Elroy Harris was born in Fairfield, Alabama, September 21, 1946 to the parents of David and Sarah Harris.  After the passing of his mother at age 3, he and his siblings went to live with their paternal grandparents, Helen and Rufus Harris in Fairfield, Alabama.  At age 5, the family moved to Cleveland, Ohio.

While living in Cleveland, Elroy loved to visit his great grandparents, Phillip and Hattie Jones,’ 28-bedroom home that was built by the Rockefellers.  As a young boy from Alabama these visits gave him a whole new outlook on the possibilities for his life.  After his grandparents passed away, Elroy moved to Northern California with his father and brother, Phillip.

As a teenager, Elroy, along with his father and brother, moved to Vallejo, California and lived in Country Club Crest where he attended Hogan Junior High School and graduated from Vallejo Senior High School in 1964.  He was known as “Doo Dad”.  Due to his academic excellence, Elroy graduated early and at the top of his class.

He then applied to go into the military, but because he scored so high during testing, they looked him in the eye and said, “Boy, you need to go to College.”  He later stated that he believed that statement along with his decision to not enlist may have saved his life, as many of his high school friends died in the Vietnam War.

Elroy attended the College of San Mateo where he studied to become an aircraft engineer.  In 1966, he married his high school sweetheart, Perda Marie August.  To that union came one child, Caterina Marie Harris.

Elroy worked for United Airlines as an aircraft mechanic at the Oakland Airport.  Later he worked for World Airways and became an Aircraft Maintenance Supervisor.  He remained there until the airline left Oakland, California.

Remaining in the Aircraft Maintenance industry, Elroy moved to Tucson, Arizona and worked for Evergreen; Dee Howard in San Antonio, Texas; and lastly TIMCO in Greensboro, North Carolina.  He traveled the entire globe for business and vacations.  He received many awards in his industry.  Because of his expertise, he was selected to work on Aircraft One.

After retiring in 2001, he relocated to Oakland, California to be closer to his daughter.  In 2003, when his daughter was building a home in Brentwood, California, she asked him to come live and work with her in business.  He lived a relaxed, retired lifestyle and worked in his daughter’s business, behind the scenes, to support her in reaching a top position as a National Sales Director in Mary Kay, Inc.  He proudly drove around in every one of the 11 Pink Cadillacs that she earned.

Elroy, was affectionately known as the man that could fix ANYTHING, Mr. Google, Mr. Wikipedia, The Gourmet Chef, the Gadget Man, the Chauffeur who would drive Ms. Caterina, the Race Car Driver, the Computer Geek and the Dog Lover, but most importantly he was a great provider as a husband, a loyal friend and a loving father.

His hobbies included computers (he had many), collecting and building sports cars (he had many) and motorcycles (he had many), watching sports, cooking shows and the History and Discovery Channels.  He loved hanging out with his “Road Dog”, Fletcher, aka Booper.

Elroy was proceeded in death by his father, David Harris and his mother, Sarah Harris.  He is survived by his sister, Joyce Bolden; his brother, Philip Harris; Perda Harris, his soul mate and best friend for life; his daughter, Caterina Marie Harris Earl; son-in-love Dr. Anthony Earl; five grandchildren; eight great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

©Caterina Harris Earl

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