The annual Memorial Day service at the Arbovale Methodist Church will be a homecoming of sorts for guest speaker John Harris.
Harris grew up in Green Bank, where his parents, Virgil and Macel Harris, moved in 1945. Virgil was principal at Green Bank High School for 25 years.
John graduated from GBHS in 1954 and served in the United States Army for two years. He later attended Glenville State Teacher’s College, earning a degree in 1959. John taught in Centerville, Maryland, for one year before moving to Fairfax County, Virginia where, in 1964, he received a master’s degree in Administration and Counseling from George Washington University.
In his 29 year career, John was a teacher, guidance director and administrator. He retired in 1989.
John and his wife, Karen, who also graduated from Glenville State Teacher’s College, devote countless hours to their community of Clarke County, Virginia. John volunteers at his church and the Clarke County Public Schools. He is also actively involved with the American Legion, Clarke County Education Foundation, Virginia Retired Teachers Association, Clarke County Service Council, American Cancer Society, Red Cross, FISH, and Help with Housing. He was selected Clarke County Citizen of the Year in 1996.
John and Karen have four children – John Jr., and wife, Michelle; Peter, and wife, Jeanna; Kathy, and husband, Jay; and Sally. They also have 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
John will speak at the Memorial Day service Sunday, May 25, at 2 p.m. at the Arbovale Methodist Church. Once the program is finished, the congregation will move to the Arbovale Cemetery for a flag presentation by the Pocahontas County Veterans Honor Corps and Pocahontas County High School Color Guard.
The program is organized by the Arbovale Cemetery Association.
Suzanne Stewart may be contacted at sastewart@pocahontastimes.com