Richard Dick Harris

HARRIS, Richard J. (Dick), 20 May 1945 - 3 Aug 2017. Dick was a graduate of Talawanda High School, Oxford, OH, Miami University and held Master degrees from Yale University and the University of Dayton. He then enjoyed a nearly 50-year career as a research physicist. His current and longest, affiliation was with the University of Dayton Research Institute. Dick and Pam married in 1993. He was an accomplished wildlife photographer and birder. His goal was to visit all of the National Parks and he had been to over 30 of them. After retirement, Dick permitted himself to be lured back into the UDRI lab part-time, not nearly as much as his department would have liked. He worked until the day before he was admitted to the hospital, just two weeks before his death. Dick was a rational and objective skeptic with a quick, quirky, inquisitive mind, good stories, better counsel and bad puns. He had a rare intuitive talent for science and engineering, and diverse interests. To paraphrase Ben Franklin, "He ate to please himself and did not dress to please others." He harbored great devotion and loyalty to his wife, his family, and his wide circle of friends (and generations of cats). His loss is as tragic as it is shocking and sudden, and it will leave a vacuum in the lives of many of us. First and foremost, Dick was a "friend of Bill Wilson" for 29 years. Dick is survived by his wife, Pamela (Pease) Harris, Stepdaughter, Robin Weckel, Stepson, "Bill" Weckel, brother, James Harris (Margaret), Nephews James Harris (Michele) and Jonathon Harris (Kimberly), Aunts, Diana Hendricks Wolfram and Norma Jean Hendricks, and lots and lots of first cousins. Visitation: 5-7p.m., Wednesday, August 9, 2017 and Service Celebrating His Life: 11a.m, Thursday, August 10, 2017. Arrangements: Routsong Funeral Services, 2100 E. Stroop Rd., Kettering, OH 45429. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Sanders Brown Center on Aging, 800 S. Limestone St., Lexington, KY 40536 or Hospice of Dayton. Condolences may be sent at www.routsong.com

Funeral Home:
Funeral Services
2100 E. Stroop Rd.
Kettering, OH
US 45429