At the age of 95, longtime Berkeley resident Bruce Jerome Harris died Sept. 15, of natural causes at home in Kalispell, MT. He is survived by his son Chris Harris (Karen) and granddaughter Jazmine of Vallejo, eight stepchildren and 25 step-grandchildren or step-great-grandchildren.
Bruce’s wife, Marilyn Reynolds, passed away in Kalispell on Dec. 12. He was predeceased by wives Sondra Kennedy Harris in 1998 and Emily Barlow King in 1987. His first marriage, to Phyllis Brooke Colson, ended in 1960.
Bruce and Marilyn married in 2001. They spent winters in Berkeley and summers in Kalispell, where both volunteered at Glacier National Park, before moving permanently to Montana in 2017.
A World War II veteran, Bruce graduated from UC Berkeley in 1948 and earned his master’s from Golden Gate University in 1979.
An electrical engineer by trade that led to a career in telecommunications and radio, Bruce was blessed with a brilliant mind that never eroded. He had nonstop energy, was never confused by technology, never stopped learning or tinkering and had a strong interest in photography. Bruce was determined to stay active, whether by square dancing, hiking or going to the gym.
Donations can be made to the East Bay chapter of the Hearing Loss Association of America, of which he was a past president, or a charity of choice.
A dual celebration of life for Bruce and Marilyn will be held at 11 a.m., Sat., Feb. 1, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Road, Kensington.
