Charles “Chuck” Clements Harris, Jr., 73, beloved son, father, brother and friend passed away on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, under hospice care at Good Samaritan Society’s Moscow Village. He had been battling cancer, and the side effects of his treatment, since 2015. Born in Wilmington, Del., to the late Charles Clements Harris and Dorothy Alice Harris, Chuck is survived by his former wife Kris (Looney); daughter Sarah and her husband Malcolm (Wallace); sons Charlie and Patrick; his sisters Wendy (Silverstein) and Pamela (Graef), and many cousins, nieces and nephews.
Chuck graduated from Oberlin College and earned his master’s degree at Colorado State University and his Ph.D. in natural resources from the University of Michigan. He and his family moved to Moscow in 1984 where Chuck became a professor at the University of Idaho College of Natural Resources until his retirement in 2015.
Chuck loved the wild spaces of the west, going to the mountains or the sea for fun and rejuvenation, and spending a lot of time as a young man hiking and camping. He cared deeply about conservation, loved history, literature, poetry and music and sang in the choir at his church for many years. He enjoyed contra and western swing dancing, attending family get-togethers on the Jersey shore, and movies. But most of all, he loved his family deeply.
Chuck was an active member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse and volunteered at Habitat for Humanity in Moscow after his retirement. He also enjoyed going out for coffee with friends and former students in the Moscow community.
A memorial service will be held for Chuck at 1:30 p.m., Saturday, May 20, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse, 420 East Second Street, Moscow. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Moscow’s Habitat for Humanity or The Nature Conservancy.
