The Funeral of Grandpa Jack Harrison

Jack Perry Harrison was born in his grandmother’s house on April 17, 1924 in Los Angeles, California. In 1929, when he was 5 years old, the stock market crashed and the entire country was in a great depression and everyone was poor. His dad was a tile setter by trade but he also did all kinds of odd jobs to keep the bills paid and food on the table.

When he was 9 there was a devastating earth quake in Los Angeles that was the scariest thing he’d ever been through. There was a tremendous roar followed by explosions from transformers blowing up followed by many aftershocks. Almost every dish in the house broke so they had to eat from pie tins for awhile. They had to stay home from school because the school buildings were unsafe. Eventually the school built new bungalows in the playground and they returned to school.

His family could not afford to buy toys so they usually made their own. They made kites out of box wood, string and newspaper. He enjoyed playing games like Tag, Run Sheep Run, Olly Olly Oxen Free, Kick the Can and Capture the Flag. The kids played different things in different seasons. For example, there was a season for kites, bottle caps, marbles, sling shots, bows and arrows, swords and yo-yos.

As a boy, he enjoyed family vacations at the beach where they would camp for a week and no one else camped within a block of them. He learned to swim and body surf. Surf boards back then were made of wood and looked like big ironing boards. A favorite evening game played around the campfire was getting a paddle and swatting large June bugs as they flew towards the fire. One time he hit a bug right into his father’s mouth! His father swore he had done it on purpose and chased him all over the camp.

In high school he enjoyed Art, Shop, Biology and Gym where he ran the 440 in track. In the 11^th grade he got a job as a soda jerk at the local pharmacy and made 25 cents an hour which was better than the 18 cents he made delivering papers. He worked 4 hours each night 5 days a week and thought that was big money. From that time on he bought his own clothes and shoes. Of course things were cheaper then. It was 11 cents for the movies, 10 cents for a gallon of gas, 6 cents for a loaf of bread and 25 cents for a whole dinner including dessert.

Six months before graduating high school, Pearl Harbor was bombed and President Roosevelt declared war against Germany, Japan and Italy. Some of his classmates joined the service and left school. Later 15% of them were killed in the war. He was the first person on his father’s side to graduate from high school. His father was very sick but still came to his graduation ceremony. His father died two months later.

Soon after high school he joined the Navy and served on the ship the USS Grapple which was a rescue and salvage ship located in the South Pacific. After the Navy he became a Skipper of the Sea Scouts (like a Boy Scout Explorer Troop) where he led 48 young men.

Once he took a group of the Sea Scouts up to Utah to go hiking in Immigration Canyon. While in Salt Lake City he met several girls and one of them later wrote to him. She came to Los Angeles with her Aunt and he dated her almost every night and then asked her to marry him. She accepted and 6 months later they were married in the Salt Lake Temple on April 22, 1947. That girl was Millie Ruth Boynton and that was almost 63 years ago.

After they were married they settled in Norwalk, California where Randy Jack was born followed by Julie Ruth, Dennis Roy and Susan Millie.

In his early married life, he took flying lessons and received a private pilot’s license. My Grandpa Jack had many jobs throughout his life. He was a policeman, an assistant plant manager, an electrical foreman, an electrical design engineer and finally he became his own boss as an electrical contractor which is what he did until he retired in his mid-sixties.

Grandpa and Grandma had some real adventures with their siblings and friends. In their motor home they went to such places as La Paz Mexico and back East to see church and other historical sites. Their favorite place to escape from the Utah winter weather was Quartzite where they met with friends and family for many, many years.

We never doubted that he loved my Grandmother up until the day he died. My Dad & Aunt knew something was wrong when he didn’t show up to visit her in the hospital as he had done daily for the weeks she was in there. He didn’t show up because that night, March 5, 2010, he died peacefully in his sleep in South Jordan, Utah.

May you rest in peace Grandpa.

Honorary Military Ceremony

Folding of the Flag

Presenting the Flag to Grandma

Grandpa’s living Siblings and their spouses

Grandpa’s Siblings with their kids

Grandma’s side of the family

Grandma with her 3 living children; my Dad, Aunt Julie & Aunt Susie

Aunt Susie and her family

Aunt Julie and my cousin Fawn and her family

My Mom & Dad with all us kids and our families

The Great Grandkids in attendance

All the Grandkids and their spouses

After the funeral we went to Grandma and Grandpa’s favorite restaurant. Chuck-A-Rama!

We presented Grandma this 8” statue of Christ to help her remember that Families are Forever because of the Sacrifice he made for each of us.

Fawn, Dave, & Jonathan

Jess, Uncle Kevin, and Nick

Girl Cousins! Kylee, Jas, Tri, and Ali

Jake & Stacey (and cute Dawso smiling in the background)

Luke, Kollin, & Shannon

3 of my Dad’s cousins

Uncle Ron and his wife

Crystal and her new husband of 6 months!

Season and Arealia

Grandpa’s siblings

Grandpa’s Sister

My Mom and Dad

More Cousins!