HARRIS, Thomas

HARRIS

      Thomas H Harris, a beloved father, brother, grandfather, and great-grandfather, passed away on June 6, 2023, after a lengthy illness. He was 89 years old at the time of his passing. Thomas was born in Taber, Alberta, Canada, in 1933, to his parents, Harold and Yvonne Harris. He was a man who lived a full and fulfilling life, leaving behind a legacy of love, hard work, and dedication to his family, career, and community.

Thomas is survived by his three sisters, Irene Palmer and Bonnie Hawkes, both of Lethbridge, and Jeanann Hutchings of San Luis Obispo and Orem, Utah. He is also survived by his children, including his son, Darrell Vance Harris, a retired physician now living in Provo; and his daughters, Valorie Kirstetter of Medford, Oregon, and Lynette Loveland of Newcastle, California. Thomas will also be missed by his ten grandchildren and twenty-two great-grandchildren.

Thomas was an active member of the Provo Peaks 12th Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where he found strength and support through his faith. He was a man who loved sports, and his passion for athletics was evident from an early age. He earned 12 varsity letters in three sports, including basketball, football, and baseball, throughout his high school years. Thomas was also active in many sports throughout the year, including track, hockey, curling, lacrosse, and tennis. When he wasn’t playing sports, he was talking about it on his local radio sportscast.

Thomas graduated from Brigham Young University High School in 1952, where he played varsity baseball. After winning a journalism scholarship, he began his career as a sports reporter, a job that started a long career in sports, and later news reporting in both Canada and the United States. Thomas finished his journalistic career after winning three national awards and numerous awards in his home state of California. He was the recipient of the George S. Polk Award from L.I.U. in 1985, the Investigative Reporting Award from the Associated Press in 1985, and the Fred Garretson Award from the San Francisco Press Club in 1983. He was also an Energy fellow at Stanford University in 1973. Walter Cronkite presented one of these awards at the San Francisco Press Club. Thomas was also first runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize for Environmental Writing twice. In addition, he taught at Lehi University, the University of California at Davis, and San Jose State University. He was also a presenter at a world conference on the Environment in Brazil.

Thomas’s love of the outdoors led to the authoring of three books. One was a guide for canoeing California Rivers, another on the unseen dangers of Selenium in the soil and its threat to waterfowl, and his final publication was about rapidly changing land use patterns in the West. The book highlighted the growing dangers to the environment from worsening outbreaks of wildfires and the long-range contamination of the environment that they posed.

Thomas will be remembered by everyone who knew him for his kind heart, passion for sports, and dedication to his family, faith, and career. His services are pending and will be held in the Valley Vista building in Provo, where his loved ones and friends will gather to celebrate his life and mourn his passing. Thomas H Harris will be dearly missed, and his memory will live on in the hearts of those who loved him.

His family will be planning a memorial for Tom in mid July.