Jerry S. Harris

A father, grandfather, teacher, counselor, missionary, and family historian whose files keep circling back to one central theme: helping people feel loved, capable, and connected.

Sue, Jerry, Gerald, Brian, and Holly Grandpa Harris and Ty Jerry missionary photo

Memorial Portrait

A life built around family, faith, teaching, and steady good humor.

This memorial was assembled from the JSH and jerryharris archives. The happiest pattern in the material is not a single achievement, but a consistent way of living: Jerry learned, taught, counseled, served, kept family stories, showed up for grandchildren, and made room for ordinary joy.

Family center

Photos and letters show a man rooted in Sue, Holly, Brian, grandchildren, parents, and the wider Harris line.

Teacher and counselor

His resumes and syllabi point to decades of clinical work, supervision, and graduate teaching.

Faith in practice

Talks, missionary materials, and priesthood notes show religious service carried through listening and mentoring.

Joyful later years

Hawaii mission photos, Tahoe, family dinners, and travel files give the archive a warm, active finish.

Early Life

Missouri, BYU, Bristol, Sue, and the beginning of home.

Jerry's own journal begins with movement: frequent childhood moves around Independence, Missouri, a family dry-cleaning and laundry business, work at Penney's selling shoes, and the ordinary social courage of a young man who described himself as quiet but kept joining in.

He played church sports, joined drama club, served in student council, earned Eagle Scout in 1963, and remembered the fun of a 1964 church regional basketball championship trip to Salt Lake City. In 1964 he went to BYU. In June 1965 he left for the Southwest British Mission, headquartered in Bristol, England.

The family story turns bright in spring 1968, when he met Sue Martin. Jerry wrote that they were engaged in March 1969 and married on June 4, 1969, in the Los Angeles Temple. From there the archive opens into the life his family knew: husband, father, counselor, church servant, professor, grandfather, traveler, and record keeper.

Source: Journal of Jerry S.
Sue, Jerry, Gerald, Brian, and Holly
Sue, Jerry, Gerald, Brian, and Holly

Fatherhood

He did not treat fatherhood as a title. He treated it as work worth studying.

The fatherhood files are some of the warmest evidence in the archive. Jerry saved and drafted material about fathers leading, teaching, playing, counseling, listening, showing affection, and using influence through gentleness rather than force.

His draft "What's a Father to Do?" turns fatherhood into practical discipleship: hearts turned toward children, influence built through persuasion and kindness, and correction followed by increased love. A shorter fathers essay keeps the counsel close to home: love children daily, listen well, help them feel safe, praise them, and spend time.

Those ideas do not sit apart from the family photographs. They explain them. The pictures with Ty, the family tables, the Hawaii and Tahoe snapshots, and the baptism talk for Ty all show the same posture: close, proud, present, and delighted by family life.

Source: Father article draftSource: Fathers essaySource: Fatherhood articleSource: Holy Ghost talk for Ty's baptism
Grandpa Harris and Ty
Grandpa Harris and Ty

Timeline

Expanded Life Milestones (Color-Coded by Era)

Childhood & Youth British Mission Marriage & Early Family Professional & Midlife Later Years & Hawaii
  • Born on November 23 in Kansas City, MO, to Gerald and Juanita Harris.
  • Earliest childhood memories playing with his brother Mark.
  • Earned Eagle Scout award, active in Exploring and church youth leadership.
  • Graduated high school; active in drama, sports, and student council.
  • Called to serve in the Southwest British Mission ( Bristol, England ).
  • Preached, taught family history classes, and mentored local youth in England.
  • Married Sue Martin on June 4 in the Los Angeles Temple, after meeting at BYU.
  • Drafted and served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War era.
  • Deployed to Germany with the U.S. Army, serving as a clerk and counselor.
  • Journal records early married life and deep spiritual reflections.
  • Welcomed child Holly and child Brian into the growing family; family trips to Santa Cruz.
  • Completed Doctor of Education ( Ed.D. ) in Counseling and Educational Psychology at the University of the Pacific.
  • Established private counseling and marriage therapy practice.
  • Served as family witness for the temple sealing of his brother Mark Harris's family.
  • Taught graduate courses, managed agency clinical services, and mentored dozens of MFT interns.
  • Conducted "Making a Difference" mental health workshops for campus community groups.
  • Prepared specialized mental health and stress-management training for missionary nurses.
  • Served senior church mission with Sue at BYU-Hawaii, teaching family history and university courses.
  • Wrote final journal reflections expressing gratitude for family and life's connections before passing in October.
Source: Journal of Jerry S.Source: Jerry Harris resumeSource: Missionary Nurses TrainingSource: Family History Mission and Goals for 2017Source: Alliant supervision syllabus, 2017

Teacher And Counselor

His professional life was a long act of supervision, training, and care.

Jerry's resumes identify him as Jerry S. Harris, Ed.D., LMFT. The work spans clinical therapy, agency leadership, private practice, graduate teaching, student supervision, intern training, and services for culturally diverse communities.

The Alliant syllabus from Spring 2017 gives a late-career snapshot of what he still loved doing: helping marital and family therapy trainees connect university learning, practicum work, client care, and professional judgment. The missionary nurse training shows the same instincts in another setting: recognize stress and anxiety, understand the human being in front of you, and help helpers become more capable.

Read together, the professional files portray a man who spent decades translating education into useful service. He did not only collect credentials; he used them to mentor people who would then care for others.

Source: Jerry Harris resumeSource: Later professional resumeSource: Alliant supervision syllabus, 2017Source: Missionary Nurses Training

Professional portrait

Ed.D. in Counseling and Educational Psychology. Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Agency director and clinical services manager. Adjunct faculty. Supervisor of MFT, MSW, master's, and doctoral trainees. Writer and presenter of clinical training materials.

Faith And Religious Duties

His church files are strongest when they show him listening.

Jerry's talks cover gratitude, happiness, testimony, missionary work, family history, priesthood leadership, and the day-to-day work of helping people keep faith while living complicated lives.

One priesthood leadership document is especially revealing. It records not just a position, but a way of serving: search for understanding, find good counsel, meet regularly, keep the relationship with God central, and continue walking with someone through fear, guilt, growth, and belonging.

The missionary and family-history files broaden that same service. He wanted families to find names, write journals, gather memories and photos, take youth to the temple, teach Family History 101, and make the past feel personal enough to act on.

Source: My Journey as a Priesthood LeaderSource: Gratitude talkSource: Happiness talkSource: TestimonySource: Ward missionary talkSource: Family History Mission and Goals for 2017
Jerry missionary photo
Jerry missionary photo

Later Years

Hawaii, family history, students, missionaries, grandkids, and sunsets.

The later-years materials are bright. The BYU-Hawaii mission presentation names places and scenes with a traveler's eye: H-3, YSA 10th Ward, missionaries at North Shore Taco, Banyan Tree, Waimea Falls, Punchbowl, pit-roasted pig, hand-carved boat, BYU-Hawaii Mission, and Turtle Bay sunset.

The photos match that list: Jerry and Sue in Hawaii, missionary picnic scenes, students, and family pictures that feel more like a life being enjoyed than a formal archive being maintained. Tahoe and grandchild photos show a grandfather at ease, smiling in the middle of family life.

The London and cruise Keynote was found and preserved as a site document, but the automated extract is mostly internal Keynote structure. It is included here as evidence of travel and fun, with the expectation that it can be rendered later on a Mac for a better photo sequence.

Source: BYU-Hawaii mission presentationSource: London and cruise KeynoteSource: Family History Mission and Goals for 2017
Jerry and Sue, Hawaii Christmas
Jerry and Sue, Hawaii Christmas

Tributes & Eulogies

Reflections on a life well-lived.

Following Jerry's passing in October 2022, family and coworkers shared their memories of his kindness, guidance, and profound influence.

Brian Harris: "My Dad taught me by example"

“A good speech won't apologize before it begins, but this speech isn't particularly good. To tell the truth, it only has to be good enough for dad and for me. I can't think of any speech that would be enough to honor my dad...”

“My Dad taught me by example to: Combat life's indignities with a gentle sense of humor and self-deprecating determination. That simply listening without judgement diffuses most difficult situations in life, AND that really listening to a person is a precious gift in itself...”

“It struck me that my dad didn't really have many hobbies. Sure, he collected coins, loved to travel, and even, disastrously, tried his hand at a few home improvement projects. But the more I thought about it the more I realized why - he doesn't have hobbies because his hobbies are all of us. His interest was US.”

Read Brian's Full Eulogy (RTF)

David Harris: Life Sketch of Jerry Steven Harris

“Jerry was born on Nov. 23, 1945, in Kansas City, MO... Some will assume that Jerry’s education taught him to be loving and empathetic. Not so. Those qualities seemed to be in his DNA. His education refined his skills and protocols and deepened his understanding of the human psyche, but at heart he was already a caring, supportive person.”

“As teenagers, Jerry and I liked to make up languages. They were nonsensible contrived words that had no meaning, but we would converse animatedly in those so-called languages as though we totally understood each other... Through the years, we’ve continued to 'impress' our spouses and children with those same amazing language skills.”

Read David's Full Life Sketch (DOCX)

Wayne Keele: "He was trained by the best"

“I was reminiscing with some of my coworkers about the impact that Jerry had on the world. I don’t think it can be quantified. He was so willing to help, support, lift, love, teach, and listen to everyone in need. He helped so many through his counseling and therapy... He mentored many therapists, including myself.”

“I cannot remember a time that I did not feel better after talking with him. I remember sitting in his office after I was called to be a bishop to get advice about how to do the job right. Anytime I was struggling at work he would be the one that I would go to for help and advice.”

Genealogy

The Harris line mattered to him because people mattered to him.

The archive includes PAF genealogy files, family-history goals, older family photographs, and a Pages document about Silas Harris. Some family-history files include living-family data and are not served publicly here, but they helped identify the shape of the lineage work.

The readable Silas Harris Pages file describes a man born October 14, 1824, who traveled from San Francisco in 1848 with a party of sixteen men, among the first to carry mail from there toward the Missouri River. It places him in Salt Lake by mid-June, returning toward Council Bluffs later that summer, and married on the plains on September 2, 1849. The same note links him with the Allen Taylor Company, age twenty-four, traveling to Utah in 1849.

The genealogy data also points through names Jerry preserved: Gerald Calvin Harris, Juanita Ruth Holzbaur, John James Harris, Mary Ellen Vert, Jacob Harris, Lydia Headspeth, William Holland Harris, Ruby Mabel Wiseman, and related Martin and Holzbaur lines. The safest public-facing version is a narrative chapter rather than a raw data export.

Source: Silas Harris pages documentSource: Family History Mission and Goals for 2017Source: Journal of Jerry S.
Gerald C. Harris family, about 1964
Gerald C. Harris family, about 1964

Draft family-history chapter: The trail, the mail, and the habit of remembering

Silas Harris stands in the record as more than a name on a chart. In April 1848 he left San Francisco with fifteen other men, carrying mail eastward toward the Missouri River at a time when distance itself was a test of character. By mid-June they had reached Salt Lake. He stayed for a season, then turned back toward Council Bluffs, and on September 2, 1849, married on the plains.

The family story that follows is not just a chain of places. It is a chain of people willing to travel, begin again, serve, keep covenants, and remember. Jerry's own life carries that same pattern in a modern key: Independence, Provo, Bristol, California, Hawaii, and the homes where children and grandchildren learned they belonged.

A family history becomes strongest when it turns names back into people. The photographs of Gerald and Juanita, the 1964 Harris family image, and Jerry's own family-history goals show what he was trying to preserve: not only dates, but affection; not only lines of descent, but stories that make descendants grateful.

Source Library

The memorial is grounded in the files, not memory alone.

The full scan saw 20,567 files under JSH and jerryharris. This first memorial build uses 23 selected source documents and 21 copied photos. The scan also recorded 551 blocked paths and intentionally excluded obvious financial, legal, tax, and medical material from public-facing curation.

Jerry Harris resume

Academic and professional life

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JSH/Backup/blue.drive/Jerry/JerRESUME.docx
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Later professional resume

Academic and professional life

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JSH/Backup/Professional/JerRESUME.11.docx
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Fatherhood article

Fatherhood and family

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Father article draft

Fatherhood and family

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Fathers essay

Fatherhood and family

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JSH/Backup/blue.drive/Jerry/Father article/FATHERS1.doc
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Journal of Jerry S.

Personal voice

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JSH/Backup/blue.drive/Jerry/Journal of Jerry S.doc
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JSH/!2013stuff/Church docs/My Journey as a Priesthood Leader.jh.docx
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Gratitude talk

Religious service

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JSH/Backup/blue.drive/Jerry/church.files/Gratitude Talk.doc
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Happiness talk

Religious service

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JSH/Backup/blue.drive/Jerry/church.files/Happiness Talk.doc
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Testimony

Religious service

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JSH/Backup/blue.drive/Jerry/church.files/testimony.doc
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Ward missionary talk

Missionary and church service

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JSH/Backup/Jerry.church/Missionary/ward missionary talk.docx
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Missionary Nurses Training

Missionary and counseling work

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JSH/Professional/Missionary Nurses Training.pptx
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JSH/Backup/white drive/FamilyThanks.Letters/A Thanksgiving letterc.docx
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London and cruise Keynote

Travel and fun

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jerryharris/Pictures/Pics from London and Cruise10.17 3.key
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/mnt/f/MomDadToshiba/jerryharris/Desktop/7.19.syllbus/July Unit 1 Syllabus.docx
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Eulogy search status

Brian's original eulogy and David's life sketch were successfully recovered from the downloads folder. Both have been fully cataloged, linked in the navigation, and integrated into the site's Tributes section.

Genealogy book status

The strongest book-like genealogy hit is the Silas Harris Pages document, now preserved in the source library. It contains a short Silas Harris account, not a complete polished book. PAF genealogy files were found and used for orientation, but they are not served here because they may include living-family details.

Apple presentation status

The London and cruise Keynote package was found and copied. The automated text extraction is mostly internal package data, so it should be opened later in Keynote or exported on a Mac to recover its intended slides and photos.