Rodger D. Harris

Published 8:56 am Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Rodger D.  Harris of Vicksburg passed away Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015.

Rodger was born in Hickman, Ky., on Nov. 4, 1936. He is survived by his wife, Gloria Faye Harris. Rodger and Faye celebrated their 60^th wedding anniversary on Dec. 25, 2014.

After graduating from high school in Hickman, Rodger attended Memphis State University and began working for the Memphis District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1958.

He and his family moved to Vicksburg in 1969, where Rodger worked as a cost accountant and program analyst in the Program Development Office of the Lower Mississippi Valley Division until appointed as the executive assistant/liaison officer to the president of the Mississippi River Commission, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

As liaison officer, Rodger provided advice and consultant services to the president, secretary, and members of the commission on various matters including those involving levee boards, flood control and navigation associations, and to the division engineer and deputy division engineer of the Lower Mississippi Valley Division on overall administration and management of the division from St. Louis to New Orleans.

Rodger’s personal initiatives and sincerity earned for him and for the LMVD and the MRC the respect of the people throughout the Lower Mississippi Valley and the nation.

Rodger retired from the federal government in December 1994, and in 1996, he formed a consulting company, Rodger D. Harris and Associates.  He consulted on various waterworks projects in the Louisiana area.  He retired again in 2009 to spend more time with family and friends and for playing golf whenever possible.

Besides his wife, he is survived by his children, Robin Harris Copes (Bruce) of Safety Harbor, Fla., Gina Harris McDonald Eldred (Chad) of Birmingham, Ala.; and a son, Derek Harris (Wendy) of Nashville, Tenn.

He is also survived by six grandchildren, Ian Ungerer of Tampa, Fla., Logan Ungerer of Tallahassee, Fla., Samantha McDonald and Matthew McDonald of Birmingham, and Nicholas Harris and Alayna Harris of Nashville.

Rodger was preceded in death by his parents, Luther and Mildred Harris of Hickman, Ky.; brothers, Leon Harris (Mary) of Jackson, Tenn., and Kelly Ray Harris of Hickman.

He is survived by brothers and sisters, Shelley Wheeler (Don) and Cheryl Lunsford (Gary) of Union City, Tenn., Maureen Harrison (Joe), June Roberts (Doc), Gerald Harris (Mary Cecilia) and Debbie Ward, all of Hickman, Col. Gary Harris (Barbara) of Fisherville, Ky., Vickie Etheridge of Ellicott City, Md., Pam Wyman of Meber, Ky., and nieces and nephews.

A celebration of Rodger’s life will be held in the ballroom at Roca Restaurant, 127 Country Club Drive, in Vicksburg on Wednesday, Jan. 14, from 2 to 4 p.m.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorials be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital-Memphis, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105, Children’s Miracle Network-Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children, 2500 North State Street, Jackson, MS 39216, or the Salvation Army in Vicksburg, P.O. Box 1166, Vicksburg, MS 39182-1166.