Graham ‘Harrie’ Harris passed away on 13 October at 80 years of age.
Graham was the owner of Taranaki civil construction company Graham Harris, and was a CCNZ Taranaki Branch Life Member; a branch which he chaired for 12 years.
Much respected among the industry, Graham featured a number of times in this magazine: the first time in September 1998 after he received a Caltex Construction award (small-company category) at the Contractors’ Federation annual conference that year. His team had tackled a risky $55,000 project 1226-metres up the slopes of Mt Taranaki.
Graham Harris was formed in 1973 with he and Janet Harris as principals at Burgess Park, south of New Plymouth. In 1998 it employed up to 10 staff and was mainly involved with general excavations, drainage, site works and demolition.
Graham was also profiled by Mary Searle Bell for Contractor five years ago, in the November 2017 issue, called Contracting and Camaraderie, where he explained that he gave up a farming career in 1970 to start as a labourer for a builder friend, Graeme Pepper of Pepper Construction. He had sold his business by 2000, but kept working in the industry as an assessor for Connexis.
He told Mary; “This has been a great way to stay in touch with the industry I love.”