Virgil Harris

Bixby OK-(formerly Hulbert, OK) Graveside services with Naval honors will be conducted for Virgil Harris on Friday, July 27th, 2018 at 10:00 AM at Ft. Gibson National Cemetery (family only).A Memorial Service will then be conducted at 1:30 at the Whispering Hills Church of Christ, with minister Dale Graham officiating at 21349 East 111th Street South, Broken Arrow, OK, 74014. Online condolences for his family may be left at www.reedculver.com.

His honorary pallbearers include Drew Harris, Alan Messick, Mark Messick, Zachary Harris, Phil Riley, and Nathan Riley.

Virgil Harris was born on August 14th, 1922, in Hulbert, OK the son of Walter and Maggie Harris. He was raised with four brothers and one sister, Earl Harris, Ted Harris, Clyde Harris, Clay Harris, and Lee Harris-Coward. Growing up in Hulbert, and boys being boys, when it came time to settling a dispute started by his brothers, Virgil came in and finished the job! This strong spirit and iron will would serve Virgil well in the days to come. With the outbreak of World War II, Virgil enlisted into the US Navy, serving on the USS Hollister, a destroyer, the USS Pensacola, and the USS EA Greene as a anti-aircraft gunner, an almost impossible job at that time. Often, the guns grew so hot, the barrels were removed and cooled in water to prevent them from melting. From 1942 until 1946, Virgil served his country and was awarded the Victory Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and Star, and the American Area Campaign Medal, until honorably discharged. He married the girl of his dreams and his best friend, Phyllis Genelle Williams on February 25th, 1946 in Fayetteville, AR. Together they raised one son and one daughter, Nolan and Sandra, and enjoyed 71 years of memories and adventures. Virgil began his working career at the Kenny Shoe Company, working in Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri. The family returned to the Tulsa area, and Virgil began his job as a machinist for American Airlines, a job he enjoyed for over twenty years until he retired in 1980. Virgil was a sports enthusiast, loved OU Football, St. Louis Cardinals baseball, Thunder basketball, and boxing in the Navy, a sport he really enjoyed. Virgil and Genelle took to the skies and explored the world around them, from Africa to Europe, Mexico to Canada, they took in the sights. Then they purchased a travel trailer and spent their winters in Texas, their summers in Colorado and the rest of the time somewhere between Arkansas and Oklahoma. Virgil and his wife fished constantly and Genelle proved to be his best rival on many a lake! He designed the family home in Broken Arrow,

and raised the most fantastic vegetable gardens, fruit orchards and even raised his own bees. He was a strong willed man who never had difficulty expressing his thoughts. He was fiercely loyal to the family he adored, and never tired of seeing them every chance he got. Virgil was a Christian by faith and belonged to the Whispering Hills Church of Christ. He attended Bible study and put what he read to use, always studying and proving what he learned. His beloved Genelle passed in 2017, and Virgil remained with his family, enjoying their company. The Lord called this brave and faithful servant home from his many labors on Monday, July 23rd, 2018 in Tulsa, OK with his loved ones by his side. Virgil was 95 years old. He will be greatly missed.

He is preceded in death by his mother, father, his wife, his daughter, Sandra Genelle Harris, and his brothers and sister.

Those left to cherish his memory include his son, Nolan Harris and wife Shirley of Council Hills, OK, and his grandchildren, Drew Harris and wife Brandy of Broken Arrow. OK, and his step grandchildren, Stephen Riley and Phillip Riley. Virgil lives on in his five great grandchildren, Zachary Harris, Kyleigh Harris, Micquelle Riley, Chelsea Riley and Nathan Riley and one great great granddaughter, Lily Riley, as well as many nieces, nephews, cousins and a host of friends and loved ones.