In Memoriam: L. Craig Harris (1944-2024)
Leonard Craig Harris, a former member of the Lycoming Law Association, died on Wednesday, April 10, 2024. He served as president of the Lycoming Law Association in 2006. He was 79 years old.
Obituary:
Leonard Craig Harris died April 10, 2024, at his home in Loyalsock Township, at the age of 79, after a lengthy illness.
Known to friends and associates as Craig, he was born November 4, 1944, in Philadelphia, Pa., the son of the late Leonard C. Harris and Elizabeth (Craig) Harris. He grew up in Lock Haven with his two brothers, Paul, and Reid.
Craig was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather who richly savored those roles. Other interests included sports and music, especially singing in choirs and quartets including the Messiah Church men’s quartet and the Williamsport Civic Chorus.
Craig was also an avid outdoorsman and athlete who enjoyed golf, downhill and cross-country skiing, hiking, tennis, biking, and in his younger years, volunteering as an AYSO Soccer Referee. He and his wife Marty also shared a love of tennis, spending many hours on the courts together and with friends throughout their almost 49 years of marriage.
As a youth in Lock Haven, he was an active boy scout who displayed his musical talents by playing the bugle at Camp Kline along Pine Creek.
In addition to raising two sons, Craig and Marty hosted several foreign exchange students whom they affectionally referred to as their “other children.” Pairing their love of conversation, friendships, and cuisine, they launched a monthly dinner club in 1990 that continues. The couple also enjoyed traveling with friends to foreign locales including Germany and Brazil, and a Mediterranean cruise they took with friends.
Craig was an avid outdoorsman who especially enjoyed hiking in Pine Creek Valley, Loyalsock Trails, and in Sullivan County, Pa., where the family often spent summers in Eagles Mere.
A 1962 graduate of Lock Haven High School, he graduated from Allegheny College four years later with a BA in Economics. He received his JD degree in 1969 from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
Craig retired in 2019, after 40 years as a partner in the Jersey Shore law firm of Carpenter Harris & Flayhart. He was previously an associate with Joseph Rider Attorney at Law (1973-79). Earlier pursuits included a three-year post as staff attorney for the Small Business Administration (1971-73). Service in the U.S. Army included a posting at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.
Professional and civic affiliations included membership and past presidency of Lycoming Law Association; the Jersey Shore Area Chamber of Commerce (1995-2019 and past president); Jersey Shore Industrial Development Corporation (JSIDC) 1985-2015; Jersey Shore Hospital Ethics Committee, 2004-2019 and Jersey Shore Hospital Board membership; Community Housing and Development Corporation (CHAD) of Jersey Shore. He enjoyed a 40-year membership in the Jersey Shore Lions Club and was a charter member of the West Branch Child Abuse Council.
Surviving, in addition to his wife of 48 years, Martha “Marty” (Brockway) Harris, are two sons, Andrew Craig (Elizabeth) Harris of Williamsport and Peter Brockway (Celia Alves Falcao) Harris also of Williamsport; three grandchildren, Juliet Rachel Harris, Mac Andrew Harris and Sophia Falcao Harris; and two brothers, Paul C. Harris of Alexandria, Va., and Reid V. Harris of Denver, Colo.
