Robert Harris

Robert William Harris was born Christmas Day 1930 in Denver, Colorado, and died peacefully on April 10, 2019 also in Denver, Colorado. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Louann (1931 – 2011), and is survived by five children: Nancy (Robin) Bradbury, Sue (Joe) Hebert, Linda (Butch) Milberger, Steven (Monica) Harris, and Scott (Cheryl) Harris, all living in the Denver Metro area; 18 grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren.

Bob was the only child of his parents June Amos and Helen Mable Harris. He attended Dora Moore Elementary School, Morey Junior High, and East High School, graduating among the top in his East High School class in 1948. He grew up playing the accordion, and enjoying hiking the peaks of the Rocky Mountains. He was a life-long Boy Scout, enjoying most of his boyhood and all of his teenage summers attending and then being a counselor at Camp Tahosa.

He attended the University of Denver and earned a B.S. in Chemistry, graduating in 1953. During his college career, he served an undergraduate assistantship, for which he assisted in the preparation and teaching of laboratory courses. After earning his bachelor’s degree he was a graduate research and teaching assistant for the Chemistry Department at DU.

He met his sweetheart, Louann Jurgens, on Christmas Eve (her 19th birthday and the eve of his 20th birthday). Louann was also a student at DU. Both excellent students and very involved in campus organizations, they were married June 13, 1953, and enjoyed a degree of celebrity as one of DU’s darling couples. Following their college graduations, they moved to Ponca City, Oklahoma, where Bob accepted a position as a Chemist in the Petro-Chemical Division of Continental Oil Company.

Also active in ROTC in high school and college, Bob served as a Captain in active duty in the US Army Chemical Corp from 1955-1957, and from 1953-1963 served in the US Army Reserves. For his three years of active duty, he was stationed at Ft. McClellan, Alabama, where he taught nuclear physics in the Chemical Corps School.

After Bob completed his active duty assignment, Bob and Louann moved back to Denver in early 1957, with their first child Nancy who was born while they lived in Alabama. Bob accepted a job at Shell Chemical Corporation in Denver. He started his career there as a Technical Assistant, was promoted to Engineering Technologist, and eventually served as a Chemist in the Laboratory Department. Two additional daughters (Sue and Linda) joined the family over the next several years, and then 8 and 10 years later, two sons would join the family (Steve and Scott).

In 1963, Bob made a career change by accepting a job as Production Manager for Rocky Mountain Orthodontics, a Denver-based company that manufactured orthodontic components. He was promoted to Director of Operations and eventually to Vice President of Operations for the company, where he worked until 1978. During his tenure there he also served on the Board of Directors for Rocky Mountain Morita Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, which was a joint venture company of RMO.

In 1978, Bob and Louann left the corporate life and purchased a small manufacturing company of their own, Rains-Flo Manufacturing; the product they manufactured was a unique formulation of pump packing material (material used in industrial pumps that seals the mechanical parts of the pump from being infiltrated by the material being pumped). It quickly became the family business, as Louann became the company’s accountant, and two of Bob’s sons-in-law also came on board to work in the shop. Eventually Steve and Scott joined the production and sales staff, and eventually they purchased the business, once Bob and Louann retired.

Bob was active in various professional organizations related to engineering and research. He also was a long-time member of the Rotary Club of Denver, a past president of the Optimist Club of Bear Valley, and Treasurer and Board member of the North Washington Water and Sanitation District. He and Louann were always active in a church community where they both served in a number of capacities.

Bob’s love of the Boy Scouts, and specifically the time he spent as camper and counselor at Camp Tahosa was a foundation for his life. He earned an Eagle Scout as a young man, in 1948 was the first Lodge Chief of the Tahosa Lodge of the Order of the Arrow, was the first Explorer in the Denver Council to achieve the rank of Ranger. He is a charter Baden Powell Trustee and an officer of the Tahosa Alumni Association. He was presented the Silver Beaver Award in 1987 in recognition of his years of service to Scouting, and just two years ago in 2017 was a recipient of the Order of the Arrow (Scouting’s National Honor Society) Centurian Award for his service to the local Order of the Arrow Lodge.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in the name of Robert Harris to the Tahosa Alumni Association (a 501(c)(3) organization). Please contact:

Tahosa Alumni Association, Inc., PO Box 102938, Denver CO 80250-2938 – Phone 303-986-7918 or Email [email protected]. Their website: www.tahosa.org.