Michael Harris' résumé reads more like an exhaustive list of Tucson philanthropies.
Harris, a local businessman, was "the champion of so many causes," that some people - like his friend Tom Zlaket - could hardly keep track of all the community groups and charities he was a member of in Southern Arizona.
Harris' wife, Charlotte, said a couple of the 32 memberships listed on his résumé - Rotary and the United Way - were especially important to him. He was most recently the capital-campaign chairman for United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona.
"He loved his community and he wanted to make it a better place for people to live," she said.
Harris, a longtime Tucsonan, died from cancer Thursday. He was 72.
Harris was born in Chicago and moved to Tucson in the 1950s after his father got a job at Pinal Air Park.
People are also reading…
The Rev. Al Schifano, who graduated from high school with Harris, laughed as he recalled their class motto: "Hard as nails, tough as bricks, Salpointe's class of '56."
The motto seems to fit.
"He was a fighter," said Tim, Harris' youngest son. Tim and his father worked together at Tucson Realty & Trust Co., where Michael was the vice president.
Michael Harris fell into the job as a broker two decades ago after a foray as interim director of the Pima County Heath Department, a 14-year stint as CEO of the Tucson General Hospital and a job in the registrar's office at the University of Arizona, his alma mater. Before that, he served in the Navy.
Harris was diagnosed with cancer six weeks ago and approached the illness with a true-to-character tenacity, Tim Harris said. But he eventually decided not to "suffer through any further treatments."
Schifano said he talked to Michael Harris several times after his diagnosis and knew he was grateful for the "wonderful" 72 years he had lived.
When Schifano visited the family Sunday, three days after his death, he noticed a message Harris' eight grandchildren had scrawled on the sidewalk in chalk.
"It said, 'I (heart symbol) you, Poppa.' They made it in big letters so he could see it from heaven."
In addition to his wife and son Tim, Harris is also survived by another son, Chris, and a daughter, Kathleen.
Michael Harris' services
• When: A funeral Mass begins at 10 a.m. Thursday
• Where: St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, 5150 N. Valley View Road
"He loved his community and he wanted to make it a better place for people to live."
Charlotte Harris,
Wife of Tucson Realty & Trust Co. vice president Michael Harris,
who died Thursday
Contact reporter Marisa Gerber at mgerber@azstarnet.com or at 573-4142.
