STANLEY HARRIS Obituary (2021) – Washington, DC

HARRIS Judge Stanley S. Harris died peacefully in his home on August 13, 2021 after a brief illness. He leaves behind his beloved wife, Rebecca Ashley Harris, 57, and three sons and daughters-in-law, Scott (Lisa Klem), Todd (Kimmie) and Mark (Nelda). He is also survived by his sister Sally H. Gooch and brother Richard S. Harris, as well as eight grandchildren and many nephews, nieces and cousins. Judge Harris was born in Washington DC on October 19, 1927. He was the first of three children of Stanley Raymond Harris and Elizabeth Sutherland Harris. His father, better known as Bucky, is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and was the player manager of the Washington Senators baseball team that won the World Series in 1924. Bucky led five major league baseball teams in his 29-year career, including 16 years in Washington. Some of Judge Harris’s fondest memories were the summers of his childhood, spent chasing his father to Griffith Stadium and sitting in the dugout at Senators games. Judge Harris attended Horace Mann Elementary School, Landon School, and Woodrow Wilson High School. He later served on Landon’s Board of Trustees and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award. After graduating from Wilson towards the end of World War II, he spent two years in the army and then enrolled at the University of Virginia. There he played the first base for the school’s baseball team and was also a member of the Phi Kappa Sigma Brotherhood, the Raven Society, Omicron Delta Kappa, and the Thomas Jefferson Society. He then joined the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was an editor for the Virginia Law Review. After graduating from law school in 1953, he joined what was then the law firm Hogan & Hartson, where he worked for 17 years as an associate and partner specializing in communications and energy law. In 1971 he was nominated by President Nixon for a position on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. In 1972 he was appointed to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the city’s highest district court, where he served until 1982. In February 1982 he was appointed US Attorney for the District of Columbia. His most notable role in that position was overseeing John Hinckley’s charges for the attempted assassination of President Reagan. But perhaps his proudest accomplishment was hiring many US assistant attorneys to serve the interests of the judiciary in federal and local courts. He received his fourth and final appointment to the presidency in August 1983, this time as a judge in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and served there until his retirement in July 2001, and served on the Criminal Justice Committee for six years Justice Conference and chairman of the Judicial Conference Committee on Inter-District Allocations for six years. He was president of the Lawyers Club of Washington and a member and officer of the Barristers. He was also president of the Capital Beltway Hockey League. And he was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (Post 7234, in Ocean View, Delaware), the Federalist Society, and the Chevy Chase Club. He was a devoted and generous husband and father who always found time at home to have dinner with the family, attend his sons’ many childhood sporting events, and offer wise advice on a variety of subjects. And although he was an extremely accomplished lawyer and judge, in all his professional activity the many lasting friendships with fellow judges, lawyers and employees as well as with the committed legal trainees who accompanied him during his three decades made the judicial service most enjoyable. He was a friend and mentor to many and we will miss him very much. A memorial service will be announced at a later date. He was a devoted and generous husband and father who always found time to be at home for family dinners, attending his sons’ many childhood sporting events, and giving wise advice on a variety of sports topics. And although he was an extraordinarily accomplished lawyer and judge, in all his professional activity the many lasting friendships with fellow judges, lawyers and employees as well as with the committed legal trainees who accompanied him during his three decades made the judicial service most enjoyable. He was a friend and mentor to many and we will miss him very much. A memorial service will be announced at a later date.

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Published by The Washington Post on August 21, 2021.