Harry was my best friend from the time he was my first roommate at Chapman in 1953. He was a sophomore and I was an entering freshman. Besides tolerating 40 gallons of fish tanks and a breeding pair of parakeets he seemed to like me.
I had just been at Chapman a couple of weeks when Harry said to me that he did not have the money or the time to go to a barber to get a haircut; so he was going to teach me to cut hair. (I am not sure that I had anything to say about it). He put a sign on the outside of our door with a schedule saying when we would be giving free haircuts. The sign went on to explain that I was going to be supervised to do a little cutting and Harry would fix my mistakes - - - and there would be no charge. And it happened.
Harry showed me how to hold his clippers and execute a taper (you call it a "fade" now) and it is the hardest thing to learn about giving a haircut. The style then was crewcuts and flat-tops (an absolute nightmare to cut). Harry was very patient with me and tried very hard to get me to make a proper "swipe" with the clippers so as not to get a shingled effect at the back where the taper was supposed to be. After about twenty-five haircuts of the ordinary variety he had me learn crewcuts and flat-tops. Mind you, I was using his equipment all the time. When I was ready to "solo" he presented me with a set of clippers, a comb, a pair of German scissors which I still use, and a brush to clean away the cut hair from the neck. They were a gift from him to me. I was flabbergasted.
During flu season I did contract flu, and of course was too sick to get out of bed let alone go down to the dining hall to eat. Every hour between classes Harry came into the room with orange juice with ice cubes in it and encouraged me to drink (he really insisted) it. He did all this without expecting anything from me - - - I think he just did the right thing or the necessary thing at the time.
Years later when we bought the house on lower Thornhill Dr., Harry decided it needed a new roof (it was leaking into the kitchenette) so he told us to order the shingles from Sears and he was install them for us!!!!!! All he wanted from me was for me to teach him how to cook some basic stuff. So he was up there alone on the roof in the hot sun and I was supplying him with cold lemonade (I was teaching school at the time so I could not help, and I am not easy with heights and he did not expect me to help.) So he put up a new roof for me.
He also made a trip up here when I got this computer and taught me the basics of a computer. I am not sure what I did for him - - - mostly I just loved him, and I so miss him (we talked on the phone several times a week). We were able to talk about anything and everything and he had pretty strong opinions.
When my wife was dying from leukemia, Harry and Terry sat with her while she died. I had been in that room for 18 hours listening to her gasp for life and couldn't take it anymore; so my son and I went to the movies. She died while Harry and Terry sat with her. They stayed with her till I returned from the movie. I think Terry sent cards to all of our friends and they returned them saying how much they thought of Nancy - - - - Harry and Terry put them in an album for me and I read them every year on the anniversary of her death.
About a year or so before he died, he came up to my home for a visit and he told me that I have been his best friend since Chapman. I just did not know what to say - - - so I hugged him and told him that I loved him. And when he was dying I hugged him and told him again. He whispered to me that he loved me too. He was a remarkably special man - - - - - - I sorely miss him. Skip
