KaDell “Harry” Harrison, 79, of Golden Valley, Arizona, passed away peacefully at home on April 28, surrounded by loved ones. KaDell was the oldest of four children of LaDell Harrison and Lela Johnson Harrison.
He was born in Star Valley, Wyoming but the family moved to Riverton, Wyoming to homestead when he was a young boy.
KaDell learned the value of hard work early in life, working hard on the family’s farm, as well as spending summers back in Star Valley working with relatives there. After graduating from Riverton High School, Kadell served in the Navy during the Vietnam war, where he earned his nickname, “Harry,” from another sailor. It stuck.
After leaving the Navy, Harry moved to Evanston, where he met his future wife, Rose Marie Hutchinson Harrison (1951-2023), with whom he would spend the next 50 years of his life. Harry and Rose raised three children, and were also blessed with four grandchildren.
After retiring from FMC, where he worked for 30 years, Harry and Rose made the move to Golden Valley, Arizona. They fell in love with the snowbird lifestyle. After a few years of snow birding, they decided to make the move to Golden Valley permanent. At age 65, Harry, with help from his excellent friends, constructed their home there, where they lived happily for the remainder of their lives.
He was not one to sit idle! Harry’s great passion in his later years was poker, which he played religiously twice a week with friends. He even jokingly referred to it as his “poker therapy.”
He was preceded in death by his parents and his loving wife.
He is survived by his brother, Wynn Harrison; two sisters, Cindy Getz and Pamela Petersen; three children, Nathan Harrison of Evanston; Jennifer Kennerley (Jon) of Belmont, North Carolina; and Jackie Harrison of Golden Valley, Arizona; four grandchildren, Dylan Harrison of Mountain View; KaDee Harrison of Mountain View; Brendan Lowry of Hillsboro, Oregon; and David McNail-Harrison of Golden Valley, Arizona.
A celebration of life memorial service for KaDell will be held at his home in Golden Valley on July 18. For information, please email Jenny Kennerley at joyfulgyrl@gmail.com.
