Brian Kent Harrison, 90, formerly of Union City, passed away December 20, 2024 in Ohio.
Brian was born May 26, 1935 to Frances (Jones) and Aaron Harrison, along with older brother, Bruce. He was raised on the family farm in Union City, Michigan, which produced both crops and farm animals.
Brian and Bruce learned early how to grind corn and carry water to the farm animals; as they aged, they learned how to drive the tractors and plow the crops. The boys raised and showed farm animals at the 4-H shows, winning many blue ribbons. From growing up on the farm, Brian developed an appreciation for hard work and a can-do mindset for solving problems and fixing things.
Brian graduated from Union City High School where he served as Senior Class President. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Michigan State University School of Agriculture.
He began his career at Deere and Company, Harvester Works, which built combines. His first assignment was Product Reliability which required traveling to solve equipment problems.
With that job he met his future wife, Anne Herman, who lived in Dallas, Texas. They kept up a long-distance courtship and were married in Dallas on January 28, 1961. Their first home was in Moline, Illinois, where they welcomed their daughters, Brooke, Betsy, and Melissa.
In 1972 came the first of several moves the family would make for Deere, when Brian was transferred to Portland, Oregon. He and Anne packed up three little girls and a dog and moved west. It was a great place to live with hiking and skiing in the mountains, we even bought a travel trailer so we could go anytime, anyplace. Brian’s interests included salmon fishing and skeet shooting, at which he became very adept, winning many tournaments.
Beginning in 1977, Brian worked abroad for four years, landing first in Johannesburg, where he was the Managing Director of Deere’s South Africa operation. Then on to Mannheim, West Germany, in 1979, where he served as European Director to several countries.
Brian and the family returned to Moline in 1981, with Brian working in various roles at Deere headquarters, finishing in Overseas Operations at his retirement in 1992. Brian enjoyed his wide variety of experiences in his 34-year career with Deere, and always felt it was a good company to work for.
Upon retirement Brian and Anne immediately built a winter home in Cave Creek, Arizona, and spent the next 23 winters enjoying it, while spending their summers in Michigan, where Brian stayed active in managing the Harrison family farm. He continued to shoot skeet competitively, and also enjoyed quail hunting in Arizona.
Fishing was also a favorite outdoor activity—for bass on the Mississippi, and fly fishing for steelhead and trout in Oregon, Montana, and Utah. Brian and Anne loved to travel and made trips to Europe and elsewhere for two decades.
Brian was a devoted family man. His memory is celebrated by Anne, his wife of 63 years; Brooke Harrison and her husband Mark Freed and their son Jacob; Betsy Harrison; and Melissa Hempel and her husband Todd Hempel and their daughter Lia. Brian passed on his love of dogs to his daughters, and he leaves grand-dogs too numerous to count—and he enjoyed every one of them.
At the end of his life, Brian suffered from dementia. Despite the toll the disease took on him, the family felt fortunate that he maintained his calm good nature to the end, and we were always delighted when he recognized us.
Brian’s legacy, with his wife Anne, are children and grandchildren who emulate his values of working hard, treating all people with kindness and respect, a love for travel, and taking on any task with energy and a can-do attitude.
The family is being assisted locally by Lighthouse Funeral & Cremation in Union City.
Please visit www.lighthousefuneral.com to share memories, pictures and videos with the family.
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