Jerry D. Harris

Jerry Dean Harris was born on January 15, 1962, in Great Falls, Montana to Luther and Waneta (Zehm) Harris. He graduated from Mount Ellis Academy in Bozeman in 1980. While attending Walla Walla University for a few years, he went to Solusi College in 1981 as a student missionary for a year. He went on to graduate from Montana State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agronomy and Crop Science. Jerry played center on the MSU basketball junior varsity team. While working on his bachelor degree, he wrote computer programs to assist the teaching of MSU’s crop physiology labs.

Jerry continued his education at Montana State University with a Master’s degree in Agronomy. He then joined the Sorghum and Pearl Millet Breeding Project at the University of Nebraska while also working toward his PhD. In 1991, Jerry moved to Belize to work as the Farm Manager at La Loma Luz Hospital in San Ignacio. He then returned to MSU as a Research Associate in 1992, studying weed science and specialty crops.

On December 31, 1995, Jerry married Wendy Rittenbach. Wendy was a teacher for an Adventist school in Lewistown; Jerry was on the school board. Their first adventure, in a marriage that would include many, was a move to Castle Valley, Utah to run Castle Valley Farms at DayStar Adventist Academy, an organic vegetable farm and greenhouse operation.

Heidi LaSalle joined the family in 1996 and Kayla Brooke made them a foursome in 1999.

Jerry was the Farm Manager and then, additionally, Principal at DayStar for 18 years. His career went on to include Assistant Professorship at the Department of Sustainable Agriculture at Andrews University (Michigan), teaching at Monument Valley Mission School (Utah) and Bishop Adventist Christian School (California), running the Way to Moab rafting company (Utah), Head Grower for Five College Farms (Massachusetts), and Farm Manager at MSU’s Central Agricultural Research Center in Moccasin, near Lewiston, Montana.

Jerry was known for his deep care for those in his life. His heart was full of selfless service, compassion, patience, and support; he had a quiet but delightful sense of humor. He was a friend and mentor to many. He was a visionary who had a special way of showing his support and belief in his family and especially in the young people he taught. He volunteered as a consultant for a farm at an orphanage in eSwatini, Africa, as an accountant for several charities, volunteer for the Search and Rescue in Moab, Utah, and served on school boards. He was constantly learning and was knowledgeable on an impressively wide variety of topics. He absolutely adored his wife and two daughters; he was their biggest fan and cheerleader. Jerry was thrilled when he became a grandpa to Annabelle, Kayla’s daughter, in 2001.

He is survived by his beloved wife Wendy (Rittenbach) Harris and daughters Heidi Harris and Kayla (Bronson) Johnson, mother Waneta Harris, brothers Tom (Deanna) Harris and Archie (Deanna) Harris, granddaughter Annabelle Johnson, nieces Rebekah Larson, Alix Harris, and Joni Harris, nephew Jamie Kretsch, and great nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his father Luther Harris.

Friends are asked to make memorials to the charity of their choice and they may be left with the Perkins Funeral Home, PO Box 313 Harlowton, MT 59036. Condolences for the family may be posted on-line at www.perkinsfuneralandcremation.com