John Thornton Harris

1951 – 2019

John Harris, LTC U.S. Army(Ret), passed away suddenly at his home in Sorrento, Florida on Wednesday August 28, 2019 at age 68.  Born in Syracuse, New York, John was the second son of the late E. Burdett and Helen Thornton Harris.  He was educated at St. Mary's grammar school and graduated in the Class of 1969 from Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse.  John was a three-sport athlete in high school, winning All-City honors in football.  With a scholarship in hand, he went on to Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee where he was a fearsome defensive end. While at MTSU, John joined the U.S. Army ROTC program and was duly commissioned as a 2 ^nd Lieutenant upon graduation. John rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Army's Medical Logistics Corps and served in Desert Storm leading the team installing the Army's then-new field hospitals.

After his 1995 retirement from the military, John entered the world of business, founding a medical logistics consultancy first and then joining two former Army friends to form Akimeka, a medical services firm.  The company, increasingly successful, was acquired by the Virginia-based VSE Corporation in 2014 and John retired for the second time in 2016.

Outside of work, John's focus was on nurturing his immediate and extended family.  He is survived by his three children; Ryan, Jason and Amanda, Ryan's wife Carly, and his grandchildren, Cole and Alex who were a constant delight.   "Papa John", as he was known to his grandchildren and great nieces and nephews, visited often and excelled at planning and organizing vacation trips with almost military precision.  This past summer, he arranged a vacation for the entire extended Harris family in Maine on the beach where he, his siblings and numerous cousins had spent summers as children.  In addition to his immediate family, John is survived by his three siblings: Mary Margaret, Ned and Tom; their spouses, children, and grandchildren, his nieces and nephews and the extended Thornton family across the country.

To say that John was an avid golfer would be an obvious understatement.  He was a member and played regularly at Red Tail Golf Club in Sorrento.  He expanded his golf experiences with numerous and repeated trips with family and golf buddies to Ireland and Scotland.

John, also generous with his time and treasure, was on the Board of Directors for the Jordan Elizabeth Harris Foundation, named after his niece, which is devoted to addressing and preventing youth suicide.  He was also unstinting in his support of the ROTC program at MTSU.

John is perhaps best described as living the life he loved and loving the life he lived.  He will be remembered as a good man who loved and served his country and as a great father, grandfather, brother, cousin, and friend.  He had a huge heart and boundless love for his family.  Larger than life, "Papa John" will be sorely missed by his family and everyone who ever encountered him

John's Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 9:00am on Friday, September 6 ^th at St. Patrick's Church in Mount Dora, Florida.  His remains will be interred later at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in John's name to the Jordan E. Harris Foundation

https://jordanharrisfoundation.org/donate