The Rev. Harris died less than two weeks after the couple decided to winter in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., where they hoped some day to move. They had lived in Beavercreek and had a small house on Indian Lake.
Colleagues said the Rev. Harris served in a comforting role at MVH from 1984 until 2008, when he retired after receiving the news of what his doctors thought was the beginning stages of Parkinson’s Disease.
“He had this kind of gift,” said Mary Boosalis, chief operation officer for Premier Health Partners.
“John was very ecumenical. When he prayed, he would say things like, ‘God, Allah, we call you by many names.’ He was always inclusive, not judgmental, and respectful of people’s particular religions.”
The Rev. Harris committed to his calling to holistic ministering after spending several years as a pastor. He obtained his doctorate in clinical pastoral training from Butler University in Indianapolis.
“He was about treating the whole person,” Boosalis said. “We’re not just here treating people physically and mentally, but there’s also a spiritual dimension. That was his gift to Miami Valley.”
Mary Louise said her husband carried the spirit of his ministry home.
“He was a good man,” she said. “He was not only good to other people. He was good to us.”
She said her husband focused his attention on his family and always found ways to charm her.
“When he would come home, I usually had music on,” she said. “He’d come in and grab me and we’d dance a little bit in the kitchen. I haven’t been able to do that for a year. He was a good husband and good father.”
The Rev. Harris was born in Athens, Tenn., on Dec. 1, 1941. He was a lifelong University of Tennessee fan. His wife said it did not bother him that she rooted for her home state’s beloved University of Alabama.
The couple met when she was 17 and he was 20 and in the Air Force. His father, Ottis Gay Harris, also a minister, had taken a preaching job in Birmingham.
Even though they had known each other only a few months and had been together just three weeks, he married Mary Louise Ross after she graduated high school at 18 and he was 21. They were planning to celebrate their 49th anniversary this spring.
“We’ve done a lot together,” Mary Louise said. “I just can’t imagine being without him.”
The Rev. Harris cherished his role at the hospital. Boosalis said he encouraged MVH to build the chapel and advocated it be designed to accommodate as many religious faiths as possible so all visitors would have a place to pray.
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