Kent Eugene Harris, beloved father, grandfather, and great grandfather, passed away peacefully on March 16, 2025, surrounded by his children. His wife Helen died just six weeks prior.
He was raised in Watertown, MA with his siblings Dave, Patricia, and Nancy. They enjoyed summertime at their family cottage in Nova Scotia, where Kent’s love of fishing was honed. It was one of his favorite places to be throughout his life.
After a short stint in the Army, during which he and his young bride lived for a year in Vicenza, Italy, they moved back to MA and raised their three children in Acton. There he enjoyed his bridge group and travelling all over the world. He worked at Raytheon for 48 years, finally retiring at age 71. He worked almost all of his career on the launcher for the NATO Seasparrow Missile System, spending many days and nights on navy ships and earning the “dflm” moniker (damn fine launcher man).
Kent loved pitching for the company “Scrap Iron” softball team, singing in the church choir, fishing for striped bass along the shores of Newport, RI, riding his bike on the trails near his house in Cary, NC, and watching college basketball. His six grandchildren were his greatest joy, and even as they got older he still made sure they received their birthday phone calls, complete with Grampy’s booming version of Happy Birthday sung to them every year.
He is survived by his children Scott Harris and his wife Carol of Daytona Beach, FL, Sandy Harris-Graney and her husband Mark of Acton, MA, Shawn Harris and his wife Mina of Cary, NC, and his beloved grandchildren: Katrina Harris, Trevor, Hannah, and Emma Graney, and Rachel and Nathan Harris and his wife Brooke, and one great-grandchild: Graham Kent Harris.
There will be no local service but an inurnment for Kent and Helen in Maine will be held at a later date.