Ronald Lee Harris

Ronald Lee Harris

April 23, 1947 – March 29, 2022

Ron Harris, a true man of Riverside, passed away on March 29, 2022. He is survived by his wife, Sheri Harris, his son Ryan Harris, his daughter-in-law Barbara Barry Harris and his perfect grandson, Richard Harris. He is also survived by Susan and Bob Stinchfield, sister and brother-in-law; his many in-laws: Janet and John Bledsoe, Candy and Richard Bozner, Kimmet Seidenberg, Bobbi Forbes, and many nieces and nephews: Courtney Bledsoe Trump and James Trump [daughters Paloma and Uma], Sean Bledsoe & Meghann Bledsoe [daughter Zoey], Crystal Forbes and Ben Arnet [daughter Quinn], Clinton Bozner, Katie Bozner, Rachel Seidenberg, Shaina Seidenberg, Adena Seidenberg, and Chase Zank.

Ron was born April 23, 1947, in Cleveland, Ohio to Richard Lee Harris and Rosemary Black Harris both from New Philadelphia, Ohio. His paternal grandparents, Edgar and Shirley Harris doted on their grandson for the rest of their lives. Ron spent his earliest years in Cleveland and New Philadelphia. In 1951, he became a big brother when his sister Susie was born.

In 1953 the Harris family moved to Riverside, California. Residing initially in the Arlington area, in 1956, the family moved into their forever house on King Street where Ron lived through most of college & again after returning from Vietnam. Ron attended Lowell Elementary, Central Junior High, and Poly High School; the last class to graduate from ‘old Poly’, currently RCC. He attended RCC until he was drafted.

Ron was drafted and served with honor in the US Army 1968-1970, serving in South Vietnam 1969 – 1970, stationed near Qui Nhon, in the 1st Logistical Command. Throughout his time in Vietnam, he was continually exposed to Agent Orange which liberally covered the generators and equipment he maintained. The exposure plagued him throughout his life and caused/exacerbated the cancer which was too much for even him.

While on leave prior to departing for Vietnam, he met Sheri Forbes on an arranged date; they knew from that evening on they would always be together and for the next ten days they were inseparable. Over the following year, daily letters fostered a truly great love and life-long bond of love, friendship, and understanding that lasted nearly 53 years. After that first year until his passing, Ron and Sheri would be apart for no more than a month or so at a time.

Upon returning from war in 1970, Ron returned to work at Harris’ while Sheri attended graduate school at USC, spending weekends together until she graduated in October 1970. Ron graduated from UC Riverside, with a BS in Psychology and a K-12 Teaching Credential; followed by Masters Degrees in Administration, in both Business and Education.

Ron’s second passion (first being family) was educating; conservative estimates are that he educated over 10,000 students. For 18 years he taught 5-6 grade at Castle View Elementary, he was team leader and asst. principal as well. At Castle View he co-ran their successful Step Math program, introduced computers to the school with the commodore 64’s initially, coached girls flag football to a 2-county championship, and co-ran the school’s extra-curricular basketball program. He was pleased to serve on RUSD’s administrative team which included overseeing the design of several new schools, including Taft Elementary. For the next 18 years he taught Math at Vista Heights Middle School, Canyon Springs High School, and Moreno Valley High School. He also served as Team Leader and designated Asst. Principal in MVUSD. He piloted multiple math programs for MVUSD as well as integrating several computer/technology programs into curriculum. At Vista Heights, he led the team that won the prestigious Edison Energy Award for their school, the only site in the Inland Empire to have done so. After 36 years of teaching Ron retired in 2009.

After his retirement, for 10 years he volunteered at Arlington High School; doing whatever he could to help their teachers, in particular Sheri. He helped with labs (particularly AP Chemistry and AP Environmental Science), helping the front office, chaperoning countless field trips, and co-coaching Arlington’s Envirothon Teams to several State Championships. He was humbled in 2019 when he was selected as Arlington’s Volunteer of the Year, of all his numerous awards and accolades this was the most endearing to him. Ron completely retired when Sheri retired in 2019.

Ron’s greatest joy and passion was his family. Sheri and Ron loved simply being together, enjoyed going out to eat, and spent most of their days together in their home. His greatest pride in his life was his son, Ryan Lee Harris. From the moment Ron knew Ryan existed, he was in love. Ryan was born January 23, 1983, with Ron, and Ron’s mother, helping to deliver Ryan. Ryan immediately became the primary focus of Ron’s world with Ron doing all he could to ensure Ryan had the best possible future. Ron consistently chose child over career, never missing a game or important event. Ron guided Ryan through over a decade of Regional and State Science Fairs, Boy Scout trips, drove him to countless baseball games and tournaments, spent summers at swim meets, and watched countless hours of the history channel as the two devoured the information. Everything Ron loved and enjoyed, he taught to Ryan—bikes, motorcycles, building projects, woodworking, reading, the outdoors, and especially photography. Ryan and Ron were best friends as well as extremely close father and son. They took long trips together when Ryan became a young man; whitewater rafted the American River while touring Northern California, multiple trips to Yosemite, a two-week off-roading trip with Ron’s jeep up the continental divide in Colorado, and many others. Ron’s proudest moments were attending Ryan’s graduation from UC Riverside with a BS in Geology, CBU with a BS in Engineering, Cal Poly Pomona with a MS in Engineering and successfully earning a Professional Civil Engineer license.

Ron was overjoyed at becoming a grandfather and felt life had truly come full circle when Ryan and Barbara, welcomed their baby, Richard Lee James Harris, on October 22, 2021. For his last 5 months of life, Ron spent every minute he could with Richard and thoroughly enjoyed his grandson while watching his son try to follow his stellar example as a father. Ron loved with all his being and was a critical and constant source of love and support for so many, his loss will be felt for many long years. His love and support will reverberate through the ones he loved for generations.