Bill Harris, Pearl River firefighter and community icon, dies at 57

By Hema Easley
The Journal News • September 30, 2008

Bill Harris, a Pearl River community icon and a lifelong firefighter who built a reputation for service and giving after 9/11, has died. He was 57.

Family members said he had been complaining of pain in his chest and his left arm over the last couple of days, and had seen his doctor. He collapsed Sunday night in his bathroom and couldn't be revived.

He died at 10 p.m. Sunday from a heart attack, his wife, Toni, said.

A 40-year-member of the Pearl River fire department and twice its fire chief, Harris earned the respect of the Rockland community for his rapid response to the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

As the owner of W. Harris & Son Inc., a contractor in Pearl River, Harris and his brother Tim gathered their equipment and willing employees on Sept. 12 and headed to Manhattan to help in the rescue efforts.

The Harrises and their crew spent the next nine months - first as volunteers and then as contractors to the city - working on the rubble that was thick with smoke, dust and contaminants generated by the fire and building collapses.

While most of their group escaped serious consequences from the exposure, Bill Harris was diagnosed with mercury poisoning, a potentially life-threatening illness that weakened him over the years, causing him to become tired easily and lose weight.

He received treatment through the World Trade Center Medical Treatment Program.

The illness did not keep him from performing his duties as a firefighter and working for his community through many projects. It also didn't make him regret working at the World Trade Center site.

"It stemmed from his volunteerism and patriotism," said Tim Harris. "He loved the United States. ... We talked quite often about how much it meant to him to participate in the aftermath of the tragedy. He was overwhelmed by the devastation down there and he felt honored to be part of the recovery."

His family said doctors did not suggest a link between his death Sunday and mercury poisoning. The family decided against an autopsy to investigate the issue.

Firefighters, friends and family remembered him yesterday as a doer, a man always ready to do the right thing, however challenging that may be, and always ready to help others.

He was among a coalition of people who fought to secure affordable housing for firefighters in Orangetown, said Gordon Wren Jr., Rockland County fire coordinator.

When a dead firefighter's family needed their backyard to be upgraded, he did thousands of dollars of work for them without charge, Wren said.

For years he allowed his employees, many of whom were also firefighters, to drop their work and respond when fire alarms were sounded.

When Iraq War protesters complained that firefighters were bringing government-owned firetrucks to show their support for troops, Harris sent his own firetruck, which he had previously purchased, so that there would be no allegations of impropriety.

After the recovery work following 9/11, Harris secured steel beams from the WTC site in anticipation of the memorials he knew would be created eventually.

Over the years, he donated steel that serves as the centerpiece of 37 memorials in areas such as Rockland, New Jersey, Connecticut and Ireland.

"He was a giant among men. He stood tall and intrepid and indomitable," said John Murphy, president of Camp Venture and Loeb House and a longtime county legislator. "One of his expressions was: 'Let's stop talking about it; let's do it.' He wasn't interested in speechifying."

Harris was born in Manhattan on Sept. 9, 1951, to William and Eleanor Harris. The family moved to Pearl River when Bill Harris was 3, and he and his three siblings were raised in the hamlet.

Harris graduated from Pearl River High School and also worked as a school bus driver and an electrician.

He was married in 1973 and four years later started his own company, W. Harris & Son Inc.

His son, Billy, a former Marine, said his father started teaching him how to use fire equipment when he was only 5 and instilled in him a love for the fire department.

Billy Harris is now a lieutenant in the Pearl River Hook and Ladder Company.

"I always said I would be like my old man," Billy said.

Though Harris was known to have a temper, family members said he was a loving family man.

He loved cars and trucks and was an avid Yankees fan. He attended the last game at Yankee Stadium.

In addition to his wife, son and brother, Harris is survived by daughters Kelley Harris and Tracey Harris and sisters Patricia Friedman and Beth Abrahamson, all of Pearl River. He is also survived by his parents, William V. and Eleanor Harris of Myrtle Beach, S.C., two grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

A wake will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. tomorrow and from 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday at Wyman Fisher Funeral Home in Pearl River .

A viewing will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Pearl River Hook and Ladder Firehouse. A firematic service will be held at the same location at 8 p.m.

A service will be held at 10:30 Friday morning at the firehouse, followed by a burial in the Pearl River cemetery.

A funeral Mass will be held at a later date, the family said.

Reach Hema Easley at heasley@lohud.com or 845-578-2442.

see also:

Remembering Bill Harris                                                                  Firefighters pay last respects