NEIL FOSTER NOAH HARRIS

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NEIL FOSTER NOAH HARRIS After a long battle with ALS (Lou Gehrigs disease), Neil Harris died on May 29, 2000, with his wife and family at his side. Cremation has already taken place. A celebration of his life will be held at Sturgeon Creek United Church, 207 Thompson Dr., St. James, on Friday, June 2 at 7:00 p.m. Flowers gratefully declined. Donations may be made to the ALS Society of Manitoba. Neil has written his own obitbulkloaduary... My first thoughts are for Diane, my wife of five years. Her love, devotion, and zest for life have made my life worth living. My daughters, Shannon, Jill, Holly, Jennifer, and Amanda, have, since they were born, brought a constant stream of sunlight into my life. Their mother June can be very proud of these beautiful young women. Born in Young, SK, raised and educated in Saskatoon, I received a degree in philosophy and theater from the University of Saskatchewan. Much later, while in my 40s, I earned a degree in architecture from the University of Manitoba. I became a Winnipegger in 1959. I have had a varied and fulfilling life. I have had a career as a musician, composer, TV producer, TV performer, architect, teacher, and film maker. As a freelance writer, I was music reviewer and columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press for ten years. I have had a play produced, among other places, in Tokyo. As a director, I directed over 200 shows at the Hollow Mug Theater Restaurant and Rainbow Stage. Even my military career was excessive. I served, with a complete lack of distinction, in the R.C.A.F., the Navy, and the Army. In 1997, I received a number of awards, including Manitobas highest award, the Order of the Buffalo Hunt, and was humbled to join such other recipients as Prince Philip and Mother Theresa. There is no doubt in my mind that I did not deserve these awards, but it was still nice to get them. But there is one thing I have learned in the years of this wretched illness. My true fulfilment, joy, happiness, call it what you will, has come from the love I share with Diane and my daughters, the prayers of my sister Lahoma, her husband Art, my niece Jo-Ann, my nephew James, my grandchildren, Kaitlin and Casey, the support to my daughters of Mark, Sid, Tim, and Stephen, my lifelong friend Mariette Vanderham, the thoughtful concern of the Marion family, the monumental friendship of Marie and Henri Enns, Loraine and George West, Carol and Jim Nowell, and the fact that hundreds of people have touched my life in a way that I can never repay. Special thanks go to Dr. Kirk. Dr. VanAmyde, Dr. Hirshfield, and all the wonderful, caring nurses and orderlies from Homecare and Riverview Hospital. I would also like to thank Bert and Anita Kroeker and our friends at Sturgeon Creek United Church where, through music and their friendship, I have found a spiritual home. And finally, the Rev. Allan Saunders for his wise friendship that has brought me closer to God than I would have thought possible, and with the wish that he will intercede for this old sinner. It has been 75 glorious years. "Why do we live? What is our will? Why do we die with wistful mind And leave unfinished deeds behind?" Taras Shevchenko Green Acres Funeral Chapel 222-3241

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jun 01, 2000