Steven Allen Harris
September 4, 1952 – May 17, 2024

Steve Harris was born in Berkeley to Marjorie Jean (neé Peth) Harris and Clarence Alfred Harris, where Clarence worked as an Electrical Engineer at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory. Steve was the youngest of three, with older sisters Barbara and Patricia. The family relocated to Los Altos in 1963, where Clarence took a job at the Stanford Linear Accelerator and Marjorie worked as an Assistant Librarian. There, Steve lived at the family home on Russell Avenue until he graduated from Awalt High School in 1970 and left to attend Humboldt State University in Arcata.

At HSU, Steve earned a B.S. and M.S. in Natural Resources. His masters thesis examined the relationship of fog and the coastal redwoods. In Steve’s youth he worked in a variety of nature-oriented jobs for the National Parks Service, U.S. Forest Service, on boats as a marine fisheries observer, and an environmental consultant. His favorite job was serving as a wilderness ranger in the Trinity Alps northeast of Arcata.

The last nine years of his career were spent working to assure that CalTrans staff and construction contractors complied with environmental permit requirements. During this time, he became an expert on the bats that sleep on the underside of the Yolo Causeway east of Davis, and the salamanders that live along Highway 101 north of Santa Rosa.

Due to his tall stature and distinctive gait, Steve was a familiar figure in and round Arcata for decades. His likes were contra dancing, old-time music, singing with the Arcata Interfaith Gospel Choir, making and playing a mandolin, fencing, foraging for wild mushrooms, playing chess and blowing soap bubbles.

He disliked having strangers ask him how tall he was, and Steve would typically answer, “81 inches.” The more dull-witted questioners would often reply “No, really, how tall are you?”, to which Steve would respond, “I just told you,” and stride away.

He also did not like being asked if he played basketball, to which the answer was a curt, “No.” Steve’s sport was hacky-sack, where his long legs let him cover lots of ground. Those legs also helped him move through a forest at an amazing speed that left those of lesser stature running to keep up.

Steve lived out his final years in a 1940-vintage bungalow landscaped with native plant species. He was visited by the turkeys that roosted in a nearby creek. Deer frequently bedded down in the comfort of his woodsy front yard.

Steve was a shy, kind and loyal man who, once he came to know and like you, was your friend for life. He had a passion for native plants and protecting the environment.

Steve had cheated death multiple times in his life, surviving cancers, a severe head injury, and problems with his circulatory system, all complicated by the scoliosis he was born with. His health gradually worsened over time, and in the end, his heart and lungs just couldn’t keep up with the demands of that big frame.

The Grateful Dead and Emmylou Harris were some of Steve’s favorite music makers. On his final day, the ICU nurse was a Dead fan who kindly served up hours of tunes from Jerry Garcia and Emmylou to send him home smiling.

Steve was predeceased by his parents, Clarence and Marjorie Harris of Los Altos, and sister, Barbara Harris, of Utah. He is survived by sister, Patricia Harris, of Sacramento.

Steve’s ashes will be scattered in Humboldt County. All are invited to a Celebration of Life at the Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall, 24 Fellowship Way, in Bayside on Friday, September 20, at 1:30 pm. Please bring hors-d’oeuvres and light desserts to share at the potluck.