Legacy Project
Article by Archivist Br. Lawrence Stewart

December 20th

Brother John Lawrence Harris, C.S.C.

John was born in Detroit, MI, and attended Ford Trade School, graduating in 1945. He spent a year at the University of Detroit and near the end of World War II joined the Navy, serving on a destroyer. He worked in Navy recruiting and also at Bray Motor Company in Detroit. He entered the candidate program of the Brothers in 1949. After his novitiate year he joined the staff at St. Charles Boys Home in Milwaukee, WI, and a year later at Mount Carmel School in Brooklyn, NY. He completed his B.A. degree at Notre Dame in 1955 and was sent to the Holy Cross Missions in East Pakistan. He spent a total of 18 years teaching in Dacca and Chittagong. He returned to the U.S. in 1973 and joined the faculty at St. Francis High School in Mountain View, CA for two years. Because of involvement with immigrants during the Pakistani civil war, he could not return to East Pakistan. In 1974 he arranged to teach at St. Xavier High School, a Jesuit institution in Kathmandu, Nepal, for 8 years. He came back to the U.S. to teach for a year in New Orleans and returned to Kathmandu or 4 more years. He returned to the U.S. and taught for a year at St. Joseph High School in St. Croix, Virgin Islands. He studied as a Maryknoll associate and returned to Kathmandu to work for 7 more years. In 1997 he came home to work as a volunteer at Schubert Villa, Notre Dame, and in 1998 retired with the community at St. Francis High School, Mountain View, CA. John was noted for his friendly, open, and optimistic personality. His first priority in ministry was to the needs of others, through his generosity, sensitivity, and availability.