Thomas A. Harris

Thomas Alan Harris, 92, of Signal Mountain, died June 10 of old age and associated factors. He was the son of the late Freeman R. Harris and Marjorie Williams Harris of Chattanooga and the husband of Sally Hoover Harris of Signal Mountain.

Tom was born in Chattanooga in 1933. He attended Missionary Ridge School, McCallie School, and Vanderbilt University. Upon his graduation from Vanderbilt, he began his term of active duty in the U.S. Navy, serving as a line officer aboard a small combatant vessel in the Atlantic fleet. Upon completion of active duty, he entered Vanderbilt Law School, where he became Associate Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif.

The Milligan, Milligan and Hooper law firm hired Tom in 1960, and he enjoyed a thirty-year practice there. Tom was a general practitioner with emphasis in litigation, especially civil defense. He was admitted to practice in the Sixth, Eighth, and Eleventh federal Circuit Courts of Appeal, and to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Tom put one foot into the political arena from 1962-1968, being elected to two terms in the Tennessee House and one term in the Senate. In 1968, he decided to withdraw from that arena in favor of the career at law and the growing family at home.

Other public service in these years included terms on local boards: the Heart Association; the Cancer Society; the Bright School; the Chattanooga Bar Association; and the Chattanooga Mental Health Housing Corporation, of which he was President. His most dedicated efforts, however, were directed to his providentially assigned duties at Signal Mountain Presbyterian Church, which has been a focal point and anchor for his family over the years. Tom’s portion has been to work as a teacher, deacon, elder, clerk of session, trustee, commissioner, and elder emeritus.

Tom left the general practice of law in 1990 to form Arbitration and Mediation Services, Inc. He developed processes for the presentation of cases for mediation or arbitration, and he freely spoke on these processes and advocated their use when appropriate. The concepts were also advocated by several other local practitioners, and Chattanooga became the regional birthplace for the now common uses of these forms of dispute resolution.

Tom had a sister and a brother, Peggy Harris Milligan, and James Freeman Harris, who died in years past. In addition to his beloved wife, Sally, Tom is survived by three sons and their families. They are: T. Alan Harris and wife, Carrie Hope Harris, and their children: Case Freeman Harris; Cole Alan Harris; and Catherine Hope Harris; Timothy Freeman Harris and wife, Lisa Blanton Harris, and their daughters: Julia Grace Harris and Amy Paige Harris; and William Hoover Harris and wife, Sally Corran Harris, and their daughter, Laura Corran Harris. Also surviving are his nephew Freeman Harris Milligan and wife, Melissa Milligan, and their son, Kieffer Milligan; sister-in-law Amy Hoover Frierson; and several cousins. Tom was very proud of his family, loved each one dearly, and said that it was all right to brag about them (as he often did) because it was God who made them.

A graveside committal service will be held at Forest Hills Cemetery for family only. A service of worship will take place on Wednesday, June 17 at Signal Mountain Presbyterian Church at 1:00 PM. Following the service, the family will greet friends in the Greeting Room at the church.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to a charity of one's choice.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Arrangements are under the care of the North Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, Crematory and Florist, 5401 Highway 153, Hixson. Please share your thoughts and memories at www.chattanooganorthchapel.com