Sterling "Sterl" Richard Harris was born July 24, 1899, in Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, the youngest son of educators Dennison Emer and Eunice Polly Stewart Harris. When he was five years old, the family moved to Cardston, Alberta, Canada, and later to Provo, Utah where Sterling graduated from BYU High School.
As a young man he volunteered in the United States Army during World War I, but as a result of the great flu epidemic, never made it overseas before the war ended.
He served an L.D.S. Mission to the Northern States (Chicago) from 1920-21, financed in part by his older brother Franklin S. Harris, who would become president of Brigham Young University just as Sterling returned.
He attended Utah State University in Logan, Utah where he was an all-conference football player, a member of Sigma Chi fraternity, and was later honored by the college as an outstanding alumnus for his achievements. He graduated with a degree in agronomy and commerce in 1924. He taught classes and coached at North Cache High School in 1925, and after 1926 at Tooele High School for 11 years, during which time his football teams won four state championships.
He left coaching briefly to become personnel director at the Tooele Smelter and Refining Company. He was then asked back into education to serve as superintendent of the Tooele County School District. He held his job for 25 years, retiring at age 65.
He was one of nine founders of the "Tooele Bit & Spur Riding Club” in 1946, and during retirement and into his 80's, he could be found on most days riding his horse into the mountain country of Settlement Canyon. He was often accompanied by friends and his beloved Springer Spaniel dogs.
He served as bishop and high councilman for many years in the Tooele First Ward Church. He had an encyclopedic memory for names and family genealogy, usually able to quickly connect the family ties of anyone he newly met in Utah, to somebody else he knew.
He married Viola Green of Lethbridge, Canada, on September 20, 1923 in a marriage solemnized in the Logan LDS Temple; she died in 1951. They had two children, Richard and John. On October 1, 1953 he married Neva Saville.
His work with youth brought him respect, and a formal honor in having the "Sterling R. Harris Elementary School" in Tooele named for him. Utah State University recognized him as an outstanding alumnus and awarded him an Alumni Merit Citation in 1977. In March 1992, he was honored by the Utah State Legislature for his role in uniting the "Old Town" and "New Town" sections of Tooele together. This work involved using the discipline of a single football team to resolve social differences between the sons of new-immigrant miners, and those of long-time Tooele residents from pioneer families.
Sterl Harris passed away in the Tooele Valley Nursing Home on Saturday, Sept. 12, 1992, of causes incident to age. He was 93 years old. At the time, he was one of Tooele County's best-known citizens.
His second wife Neva Saville Harris survived him, as did two sons, Richard Green Harris and wife, Virginia, Wayne, Pennsylvania; and John Sterling Harris and wife, Sue, Springville; 10 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services were held Thursday, Sept. 17, 1 p.m., at the Tooele South State Center, 910 So. 750 West, with a viewing Wednesday at Tate Mortuary, 110 South Main Street, Tooele, from 6-8 p.m. Viewing Thursday, at the stake center from 11 a.m to 12:30 p.m. Interment was in Tooele City Cemetery.
As a young man he volunteered in the United States Army during World War I, but as a result of the great flu epidemic, never made it overseas before the war ended.
He served an L.D.S. Mission to the Northern States (Chicago) from 1920-21, financed in part by his older brother Franklin S. Harris, who would become president of Brigham Young University just as Sterling returned.
He attended Utah State University in Logan, Utah where he was an all-conference football player, a member of Sigma Chi fraternity, and was later honored by the college as an outstanding alumnus for his achievements. He graduated with a degree in agronomy and commerce in 1924. He taught classes and coached at North Cache High School in 1925, and after 1926 at Tooele High School for 11 years, during which time his football teams won four state championships.
He left coaching briefly to become personnel director at the Tooele Smelter and Refining Company. He was then asked back into education to serve as superintendent of the Tooele County School District. He held his job for 25 years, retiring at age 65.
He was one of nine founders of the "Tooele Bit & Spur Riding Club” in 1946, and during retirement and into his 80's, he could be found on most days riding his horse into the mountain country of Settlement Canyon. He was often accompanied by friends and his beloved Springer Spaniel dogs.
He served as bishop and high councilman for many years in the Tooele First Ward Church. He had an encyclopedic memory for names and family genealogy, usually able to quickly connect the family ties of anyone he newly met in Utah, to somebody else he knew.
He married Viola Green of Lethbridge, Canada, on September 20, 1923 in a marriage solemnized in the Logan LDS Temple; she died in 1951. They had two children, Richard and John. On October 1, 1953 he married Neva Saville.
His work with youth brought him respect, and a formal honor in having the "Sterling R. Harris Elementary School" in Tooele named for him. Utah State University recognized him as an outstanding alumnus and awarded him an Alumni Merit Citation in 1977. In March 1992, he was honored by the Utah State Legislature for his role in uniting the "Old Town" and "New Town" sections of Tooele together. This work involved using the discipline of a single football team to resolve social differences between the sons of new-immigrant miners, and those of long-time Tooele residents from pioneer families.
Sterl Harris passed away in the Tooele Valley Nursing Home on Saturday, Sept. 12, 1992, of causes incident to age. He was 93 years old. At the time, he was one of Tooele County's best-known citizens.
His second wife Neva Saville Harris survived him, as did two sons, Richard Green Harris and wife, Virginia, Wayne, Pennsylvania; and John Sterling Harris and wife, Sue, Springville; 10 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services were held Thursday, Sept. 17, 1 p.m., at the Tooele South State Center, 910 So. 750 West, with a viewing Wednesday at Tate Mortuary, 110 South Main Street, Tooele, from 6-8 p.m. Viewing Thursday, at the stake center from 11 a.m to 12:30 p.m. Interment was in Tooele City Cemetery.
Sterling "Sterl" Richard Harris was born July 24, 1899, in Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, the youngest son of educators Dennison Emer and Eunice Polly Stewart Harris. When he was five years old, the family moved to Cardston, Alberta, Canada, and later to Provo, Utah where Sterling graduated from BYU High School.
As a young man he volunteered in the United States Army during World War I, but as a result of the great flu epidemic, never made it overseas before the war ended.
He served an L.D.S. Mission to the Northern States (Chicago) from 1920-21, financed in part by his older brother Franklin S. Harris, who would become president of Brigham Young University just as Sterling returned.
He attended Utah State University in Logan, Utah where he was an all-conference football player, a member of Sigma Chi fraternity, and was later honored by the college as an outstanding alumnus for his achievements. He graduated with a degree in agronomy and commerce in 1924. He taught classes and coached at North Cache High School in 1925, and after 1926 at Tooele High School for 11 years, during which time his football teams won four state championships.
He left coaching briefly to become personnel director at the Tooele Smelter and Refining Company. He was then asked back into education to serve as superintendent of the Tooele County School District. He held his job for 25 years, retiring at age 65.
He was one of nine founders of the "Tooele Bit & Spur Riding Club” in 1946, and during retirement and into his 80's, he could be found on most days riding his horse into the mountain country of Settlement Canyon. He was often accompanied by friends and his beloved Springer Spaniel dogs.
He served as bishop and high councilman for many years in the Tooele First Ward Church. He had an encyclopedic memory for names and family genealogy, usually able to quickly connect the family ties of anyone he newly met in Utah, to somebody else he knew.
He married Viola Green of Lethbridge, Canada, on September 20, 1923 in a marriage solemnized in the Logan LDS Temple; she died in 1951. They had two children, Richard and John. On October 1, 1953 he married Neva Saville.
His work with youth brought him respect, and a formal honor in having the "Sterling R. Harris Elementary School" in Tooele named for him. Utah State University recognized him as an outstanding alumnus and awarded him an Alumni Merit Citation in 1977. In March 1992, he was honored by the Utah State Legislature for his role in uniting the "Old Town" and "New Town" sections of Tooele together. This work involved using the discipline of a single football team to resolve social differences between the sons of new-immigrant miners, and those of long-time Tooele residents from pioneer families.
Sterl Harris passed away in the Tooele Valley Nursing Home on Saturday, Sept. 12, 1992, of causes incident to age. He was 93 years old. At the time, he was one of Tooele County's best-known citizens.
His second wife Neva Saville Harris survived him, as did two sons, Richard Green Harris and wife, Virginia, Wayne, Pennsylvania; and John Sterling Harris and wife, Sue, Springville; 10 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services were held Thursday, Sept. 17, 1 p.m., at the Tooele South State Center, 910 So. 750 West, with a viewing Wednesday at Tate Mortuary, 110 South Main Street, Tooele, from 6-8 p.m. Viewing Thursday, at the stake center from 11 a.m to 12:30 p.m. Interment was in Tooele City Cemetery.
As a young man he volunteered in the United States Army during World War I, but as a result of the great flu epidemic, never made it overseas before the war ended.
He served an L.D.S. Mission to the Northern States (Chicago) from 1920-21, financed in part by his older brother Franklin S. Harris, who would become president of Brigham Young University just as Sterling returned.
He attended Utah State University in Logan, Utah where he was an all-conference football player, a member of Sigma Chi fraternity, and was later honored by the college as an outstanding alumnus for his achievements. He graduated with a degree in agronomy and commerce in 1924. He taught classes and coached at North Cache High School in 1925, and after 1926 at Tooele High School for 11 years, during which time his football teams won four state championships.
He left coaching briefly to become personnel director at the Tooele Smelter and Refining Company. He was then asked back into education to serve as superintendent of the Tooele County School District. He held his job for 25 years, retiring at age 65.
He was one of nine founders of the "Tooele Bit & Spur Riding Club” in 1946, and during retirement and into his 80's, he could be found on most days riding his horse into the mountain country of Settlement Canyon. He was often accompanied by friends and his beloved Springer Spaniel dogs.
He served as bishop and high councilman for many years in the Tooele First Ward Church. He had an encyclopedic memory for names and family genealogy, usually able to quickly connect the family ties of anyone he newly met in Utah, to somebody else he knew.
He married Viola Green of Lethbridge, Canada, on September 20, 1923 in a marriage solemnized in the Logan LDS Temple; she died in 1951. They had two children, Richard and John. On October 1, 1953 he married Neva Saville.
His work with youth brought him respect, and a formal honor in having the "Sterling R. Harris Elementary School" in Tooele named for him. Utah State University recognized him as an outstanding alumnus and awarded him an Alumni Merit Citation in 1977. In March 1992, he was honored by the Utah State Legislature for his role in uniting the "Old Town" and "New Town" sections of Tooele together. This work involved using the discipline of a single football team to resolve social differences between the sons of new-immigrant miners, and those of long-time Tooele residents from pioneer families.
Sterl Harris passed away in the Tooele Valley Nursing Home on Saturday, Sept. 12, 1992, of causes incident to age. He was 93 years old. At the time, he was one of Tooele County's best-known citizens.
His second wife Neva Saville Harris survived him, as did two sons, Richard Green Harris and wife, Virginia, Wayne, Pennsylvania; and John Sterling Harris and wife, Sue, Springville; 10 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services were held Thursday, Sept. 17, 1 p.m., at the Tooele South State Center, 910 So. 750 West, with a viewing Wednesday at Tate Mortuary, 110 South Main Street, Tooele, from 6-8 p.m. Viewing Thursday, at the stake center from 11 a.m to 12:30 p.m. Interment was in Tooele City Cemetery.
