Harris_JamesVernon_30 Nov. 1932
James Vernon Harris, beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and brother passed away at home in his sleep on Feb. 10, 2009 after a brave, 10 year battle with prostate cancer. Jim was born Nov. 30, 1932, the first son born to Vernon Joshua Harris and Susan Mae Egbert, in his grandparent’s boarding house on the Idaho/Utah state line where Fairview, Idaho and Lewiston, Utah meet. When asked where he was born, he would smile and say that it depended in which room of the house he had been born. But he always loved Idaho and claimed Fairview as his birth place. He had two younger brothers, Jerel and Earl, one older sister, Nelda (Rex) Jensen, and three younger sisters, Norma (Rex) Bybee, Charlotte (Terry) Evans and Shirley (Danny) Lowe. He was raised on farms in Preston and Downey, Idaho where he learned the value of good, hard work and self-sufficiency. Many a day was spent in a beet field learning the meaning of “a hard row to hoe” as he weeded and topped beets to earn extra money for the family. He loved sports and was known as the guy who could catch a hardball without a catcher’s mitt. He also became a talented, quick-fisted boxer for his school team. Jim met Connie Rachel Williams at the Downata Hot Springs swimming pool in Downey, Idaho where it was love at first sight. The young 16 and 17 year old couple were married three months later on Sept. 9, 1949, beginning a 60 year marriage which produced five children, Michael James (Colette), Karen (Pat) Kinney, Connie Lyn, Cheryl Ann (John) Pope and Geri Lyn (Scott) Gropp, 30 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Jim was the most honest, hard working, self-sufficient man we have ever known at times working up to three jobs simultaneously to support his family. He lived most of his life in Boise, Idaho where he was known as one of the area’s best drywall contractors. He loved hunting, swimming, boating, water skiing, country music, singing and playing his guitar and all animals. But he especially loved horses and spent 40 years breeding, raising, training and racing thoroughbred horses. Many a day we would find Jim standing at his back window with binoculars watching his horses and the wildlife which lived on or visited his acreage on Maple Grove road. Jim is survived by his wife, four of his children, his grand and great grandchildren, three sisters and many friends and in-laws who loved him. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Connie Lyn, who died shortly after birth; his father and mother, both brothers and his older sister, Nelda. Funeral services for Jim will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009 at the LDS Chapel located at 35555 S. Cole Road. A viewing will be held from 5-7 p.m., Friday, Feb. 13, 2009 at Relyea Funeral Chapel and from 10 a.m. until 10:45 a.m. at the church on Saturday. Jim will be interred next to his daughter in the Malad Idaho Cemetery the following Monday, Feb. 16, 2009 at 12 p.m. A viewing will be held at the Benson-Horsley Funeral Home in Malad one hour prior to the burial. He will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him. www.relyeafuneralchapel.com