Donald "Don" Delaine Harris

Donald Delaine Harris was born in Minot, North Dakota to Rev. Ray Harris and Rosetta (Wolfe) Harris. He and his twin sister Dorothy Osteroos were born at home. They were the 5th and 6th children of 7. They all went to Minot Normal School which was part of Minot State Teachers College, later to become Minot State University.

Don played one game of high school football and as he tells it, he ran a touchdown but it was into the other teams goal and his teammates broke his nose. He joined the army in 1944 and was in the Army Ambulance Corps. serving in the Pacific. He was on one of the first US ships with health care to serve in Japan after the surrender. They had to wait offshore for the mines to be cleared from Tokyo Bay.

When Don was discharged from the army in 1946, he and some fellow North Dakota natives hired a taxi driver to drive them home from Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Washington state (you couldn't do that today!). He used his GI bill to go to Radio Technician School in Minneapolis.

He married Lorraine Gelking on December 26th, 1947. His father officiated the wedding in the Harris family home. They were married until Lorraine's passing on January 25, 2024.

Don had a beautiful tenor voice. He directed church choirs from the mid-1950s until the 1990s. If you were married or died as a member of Olympic View Community Church, chances are Don sang at the church service. Don also organized a group of choir directors from many churches of different denominations in the Seattle area for concerts.

He was an industrial engineer, starting work as one of the first employees of John Fluke Company when they were in Ballard. He retired from United Control in the late 1980s.

Don survived a brain tumor surgery and three forms of cancer in his lifetime.

Don and Lorraine lived in the Licton Springs area of North Seattle from 1953 to 2015. They raised three children; Sharyn (Harris) Mellors, Rodney Harris, and Steven Harris. He is survived by his three children, son-in-law Andrew Mellors, and daughter-in-law Linda Harris. They were blessed by 6 grandchildren; Andrew Mellors II, Barbara (Mellors) Schaller and her husband Kirk, Jason Harris and his wife Heather, Monica Harris, Zac Harris, and Kendall Harris. There are 7 great grandchildren; Aiden, Emmet, Maile, Evan, Morgan, Samantha, and Alex. And many nieces and nephews, some of whom flew in to help celebrate Don's 100th birthday party.