Dayle Miquel Harris

Captain Dayle Miquel Harris departed for his final destination on Thursday, January 6, 2022 at MD Anderson in Houston, Texas after a short illness, just miles from where he started his remarkable journey on May 15, 1938 to Verva and Edward Knight. Dayle graduated from Texas City High School and attended the University of Texas at Austin. While a premed student, Dayle joined the Longhorn Flying Club and ultimately traded stethoscopes and scrubs for headphones and wings.

In 1963, Dayle flew his first solo flight; in 1965, he began his prestigious flying career with Eastern Airlines as a flight engineer and rose to Director and Chief Pilot of the Central Region. In 1991, Dayle accepted an offer to join EVA Airways in Taiwan and soon became Chief Pilot and flew Charters for the President of Taiwan. After retiring from EVA, Dayle flew Dr. Y.F. Chang, Chairman of the Evergreen Group, on four around-the-world flights each year as his private pilot, and Dayle even wrote a chapter for Chang’s 2nd book. In 2014, Dayle received The Wright Brothers “Master Pilot” Award for 50 years of dedicated service in aviation safety from the DOT FAA. In 2020, already an octogenarian, Dayle flew his Piper Cherokee from Hood River to Lubbock with his son, Jon, and relished each moment navigating across the country at a low altitude with his favorite pilot.

Although Dayle logged many hours in the sky, he enjoyed long rewarding layovers in numerous destinations raising children, hunting and fishing in Taylor Park, CO, skiing, and pursuing an array of successful entrepreneurial ventures with family and friends: Rental property in Griffin, GA, Mason Drug Store in Mason, TX, Scampi’s Organ Palace in Austin, TX, Oak Manor Realty in Peachtree City, GA, Lavender Valley Farm, Hood River, Oregon, and Oak Point Business Park in Denton County.

Whether navigating a plane, managing employees, or creating a business plan, Dayle was a consummate professional. He was fiercely independent, frugal, musically gifted, a skilled craftsman that could fix/build anything, a farmer, a patriot, and a writer. Dayle lived life each day with purpose, drive and a positive attitude. As he told the doctors at MD Anderson, “I’ve had a special life.” And indeed, his greatest blessings were his family and friends. Dayle was a beloved son, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, cousin, nephew, friend and colleague.

Dayle leaves behind his cherished wife, Kailai Yu Harris of Taoyuan, Taiwan; five children, Dr. Beverly (Howell) Finch of Lubbock, TX, Laurie (Laurie) Harris of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, Brwyn (Josiah) Downing, of Albuquerque, NM, Taryn Harris of Seattle, WA, and Jonathan Harris of Salt Lake City, UT; three grandchildren, Stanley (Beth) Finch, Dr. Howell (Aimee) Finch III, and Dr. Charles (Jessica) Finch; and seven great grandchildren with one on the way.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 pm on Friday, January 14th, 2022 in the Earthman Bellaire Funeral Home Chapel in Bellaire, Texas. Interment will be held 4:00 pm Saturday, January 15th, 2022 at Lakeland Hills Memorial Park (between Burnet and Marble Falls, Texas).

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials be made out to K9s for Warriors or America’s VetDogs - The Veterans K-9 Corps.