Earl Harris Obituary

Earl Lafayette Harris Jr, 86 years old of Dallas Center Iowa, passed away Sunday June 23rd, 2025, at Spurgeon Manor.
Earl was born and raised in Mountain Grove Missouri to Earl Sr & Mary Evelyn (Ozman) Harris on June 5th. He was the youngest of 5 children (2 sisters; 2 brothers who died in infancy). The family moved to Nebraska when Earl was 16. Earl married Carol (Cari) Jean Day in 1962 and together they raised 5 children. He had his own construction business for approximately 30 years with Cari as his bookkeeper. Earl was baptized in the Mountain Grove (Missouri) Church of the Brethren in 1953. He was licensed into the ministry in 1984 as a member of the Antelope Park (Lincoln, NE) Church of the Brethren and began serving as pastor of the Fredonia (KS) Church of the Brethren, Western Plains District, in 1989, serving for 12 years. In 1992 he completed the denomination's Education for Shared Ministry program and was ordained. In 2002 Earl was called as pastor of the Peace Church of the Brethren in Council Bluffs, where he retired in 2009.
Earl remained active in both local and district activities and events as well as serving on the local and district leadership boards. Earl was an active participant in Alcoholics Anonymous with 42 years of sobriety and weekly attendance at meetings. He was also a lifetime member of Optimist International in Nebraska and Iowa. Earl enjoyed fishing and hunting in his younger years, he enjoyed photography and videography; he was very passionate about genealogy and tracing his family history. Earl was also very involved in refugee resettlement and was an avid gardener.
Earl also had an amazing sense of humor; we fondly remember he would often refer to box elder bugs as democrats and in discussing political matters he would say "If you change a man against his will he's of the same opinion still". When asked an obvious question, Earl would reply "Is a frog's butt watertight?"
In July of 1987 he married Laura Leighton, having celebrated 37 years of marriage together.
Earl is survived by his wife Laura; his 4 children: Rodney, Marilyn, Vicki, Nikki (Randy) and daughter-in-law Yan: 14 grandchildren, 19 great grandchildren, and 1 great-great granddaughter who was born on his most recent birthday and his grand-dog Riley. He is also survived by several nieces, nephews and their families as well as many close friends and colleagues. He was preceded in death by his parents, his siblings, his son Bradley, his former wife Cari and grandson Zachary.
Donations can be made to Heifer International.
Many thanks to: All the nurses and nurse's assistants at Unity Point Methodist Hospital Powell building/All the staff and close friends at Spurgeon Manor/Suncrest Hospice/Our church family.
Services will be held Saturday July 19th at the Dallas Center Church of the Brethren with visitation at 10am, celebration of life service at 11am and the Antelope Park Church of the Brethren at a later date. Luncheon will follow the services.
Please visit www.IlesCares.com to view the livestream of the services or to leave online condolences which will be available at the bottom of Earl's obituary.
To send flowers or a remembrance gift to the family of Earl Harris, please visit our Tribute Store.