Henry Harris McCarley Jr.

Harris was born January 16, 1939 in Charleston, South Carolina and died in Bellevue, Washington December 9, 2020. He was the oldest of 5 children of Henry Harris and Marion Kershaw McCarley.

His most enjoyable time growing up was during the 3 years the family spent on Guam while his father was Commanding Officer of the Naval Communications Station.

He met his wife, Walta Nightingale McCarley, in Oakland, California while they both attended Oakland City College. They married January 7, 1961 at St. Leo’s Catholic Church in Oakland and spent most of their married life in Bellevue, Washington.

Harris worked for Standard Oil Company stations while he and Walta lived in Oakland. They moved to Lorain, Ohio where he served 2 years active duty in the Navy. While there, daughter Cheryl, was born. They moved to Bellevue in 1965, where son Hank was born. Harris and Walta lived in Bellevue until they moved to Emerald Heights in Redmond, Washington in 2009.

While working full time in Redmond for United Control (later sold to Sundstrand Data Control then, Allied Signal and lastly, Honeywell), Harris went to school at Bellevue Community College and the University of Washington, graduating with an Electronic Engineering degree. He worked for these companies for 32 years until his retirement in 1999. He was most proud of his work on the black boxes used in airplanes and his work testing a component on Apollo 11. He also worked on the components enabling movies to be shown on airplanes.

Harris was interested in photography and genealogy, spending years solving family ancestry puzzles. He and Walta made 3 cross country RV trips to visit family and see sites from his genealogy study. He also served as coach for Hank’s soccer team for several years.

Harris is survived by his loving wife, Walta, his children Cheryl (Don) Masters of Redmond and Hank (Kelly) McCarley of Fairhope, Alabama; grandchildren Kirsten, Jillian and Jack McCarley, Ben and Tom Masters. He is also survived by siblings Marion McCarley of Seattle, Meg Curnutt (Dee Peterson) of Marysville, Jack McCarley of Tacoma, Ted’s widow Nancy of Melbourne, Florida and brother-in-law, Kile Nightingale of Texas. He is also survived by 9 nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents Harris and Marion, brother Ted, and sister-in-law Noelle Pilat. The family wishes to thank Emerald Heights and Bellevue Elderly Care for their excellent care during his long illness.

Funeral Mass will be held Wednesday December 23rd at 11am at St. Louise Catholic Church and graveside service will follow at Sunset Hills Memorial Park.

Sunset Hills Funeral Home obituary link: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/9940599

Mass will be live streamed from St Louise Catholic Church for those who are unable to attend: https://venue.streamspot.com/event/MjQ0OTE5NQ==