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<p> A West Virginia native, <em>Robert Lee “Bob” Harris Jr.</em>, the son of the late Robert and Wilma Clark Harris, was born in Wheeling and raised in nearby Wellsburg. He was always an achiever and excellent student, especially in math and sciences. Bob was an Eagle Scout, Boys State attendee, on the golf team, a member of the National Honor Society and salutatorian of his Wellsburg High School Class of 1963. Though a military career had not been in his future plans, Bob applied to the U.S. Military Academy and was accepted into the West Point Class of 1967.</p>
<p>As a cadet, Bob continued to do well in math and sciences. He spent his first two years in G Company, Second Regiment, and in Company F-4 his last two years. Bob was active in several clubs over the years, including the Dialectic Society and the 100th Night Show. Lifelong friendships were formed during those years, especially with several of his roommates, with whom he spent many a Saturday evening playing progressive gin rummy and solving the world’s problems. From etiquette taught by the Cadet Hostesses, Bob became the consummate “thank you” note writer throughout his life.</p>
<p>Upon graduation, Bob chose the Armor branch, with his first assignment in Amberg, Germany, after attending the Armor Officer Basic Course and Ranger School. Part of his duties was patrolling the German-Czech border. He was on patrol duty in August 1968 when the Russian forces invaded Czechoslovakia. Bob assisted in dealing with the mass exodus of civilians fleeing the country to cross over the border into Germany. After eight months in Germany, Bob was sent to Vietnam in September 1968 for the first of his two tours. He was assigned to two armor units that were part of the 11th Cavalry Regiment (“Blackhorse”). Bob served first as a platoon leader of L Troop, then as a troop commander of K Troop. His second tour was as an advisor to an ARVN armor unit from March 1971 to February 1972. For his service in combat, Bob was awarded a Silver Star, two Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars and two Air Medals.</p>
<p>Bob had planned to resign from the Army after his four-year commitment. An opportunity to attend graduate school, then return to West Point to teach chemistry, changed his mind. He attended Georgia Tech in Atlanta, earning an M.S. in chemistry in June 1974. While in Atlanta, Bob married his lifelong partner, Sherry Holden, a nurse he had met two years earlier.</p>
<p>The four years Bob spent teaching at West Point (three years in the Chemistry Department and one year in the Engineering Department) were happy and rewarding for him. He thoroughly enjoyed teaching, interacting with and mentoring the cadets in his classes, and serving as a role model for what an Army officer should be. As officer in charge of the Dialectic Society, Bob formed lifelong friendships with several of the club cadets.</p>
<p>When his teaching assignment was over, Bob decided it was time to return to civilian life. Resigning from active duty, Bob served 10 years as an inactive Reserve officer in the Military Academy Liaison Program at West Point, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.</p>
<p>Bob spent 32 years in the photographic industry. He joined the Polaroid Corporation in Massachusetts in August 1978, where he spent 12-plus years in various managerial positions, including VP of Polaroid Graphic Imaging. Along the way, he earned an MBA from Boston University. Bob was a well-respected leader and manager, always calm and reassuring in any “crisis” that might arrise. In early 1991, Bob and Sherry moved to Greensboro, NC, where Bob had been recruited to be VP of Konica Manufacturing, USA at their film paper plant. With his strong photographic background, Bob was brought in to help make the company more profitable. After two-plus years, his Japanese employers had the confidence in his leadership abilities to name him president and COO, the only non-Japanese employee in the corporation to head a major manufacturing facility.</p>
<p>Bob remained with the company until June 2007, when the facility closed as part of the worldwide shutdown of the photo business sector of Konica Minolta. In January 2006, the hardest task Bob had to perform in his career was to inform his employees that the plant would be closing and jobs would be terminated by the end of the year. Bob worked closely with Konica Minolta management to secure a good and fair severance package for the employees, as their welfare was paramount to him. Eventually, Bob sold the plant assets to Zink Imaging, another photo related company, and he was able to retain 60 employees as well as himself. He remained with Zink as VP of manufacturing until his retirement in 2012.</p>
<p>Over the years, Bob served on several civic boards and boards of visitors or advisors at local colleges. He particularly enjoyed being a guest lecturer at the business schools of Wake Forest University and UNC-Greensboro. He was a 26-year member of the Greensboro Symphony Board, serving as chair (2010-12).</p>
<p>In retirement, Bob enjoyed his time on the golf course, getting three holes-in-one over the years and playing many courses in the U.S. and abroad. He and Sherry continued their travels until changes in his cognitive health made it no longer possible.</p>
<p>To quote Martin Luther King: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge.”</p>
<p><em>Requiescat in Pace.</em></p>
<p><em>— Sherry Holden Harris, John Caldwell ’67, John Stewart ’67 </em></p>
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