In Memoriam
Dennis Harris, Professor Emeritus of History
Dennis Harris, professor emeritus of history and dedicated local historian, died on June 22 at his home in Healdsburg. He was 70 years old.
Born in Glendale, Harris received his B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. from UC Santa Barbara, and joined the history department at Sonoma State in 1965. He spent nearly four decades at the University, as both a history professor and a senior analyst in Administration and Finance. Harris established the Public History Program and coordinated the Liberal Studies Ukiah program.
He was an avid local historian, and as director of the Redwood Empire Social History Project he supervised the transition of the county's handwritten 19th century census documents into permanent records. He was a former Sonoma County Historical Society president, and had been honored by the organization earlier this year with the Jeanne Thurlow Miller Individual Award. Harris had also served as director of the Historical Museum Foundation of Sonoma County, director of the California committee on Public History, and was a member of the Sonoma county Historical Records Commission.
Harris and his wife, Bonnie, purchased the digital carillon for the clock tower in the Schulz Information Center, and selected its music. A plaque on the building commemorates the couple’s gift.
He had been a quadriplegic since last July, when he fell and broke his neck and back.
Harris passed away due to complications from paralysis. He is survived by his wife of 42 years, his sons Tyler and Mathew, his daughter Nannette, and four grandchildren. Ceremonies in his honor will take place in the fall, though dates have yet to be determined.
A memorial service for Dennis Harris is on Sunday, Sept. 20 in the Commons.
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