Arthur Harris 101 years young and thriving

By Cynthia S. Saunders

      Mr. Harris was born December 22, 1920  in Flemington, Florida (15 miles north of Ocala) to Martin Harris and Henrietta Riley Harris.

In 1939  at age 19, Arthur left Flemington and moved to Liberia, Florida with his aunt, Alberta Eden, on Hood Street.

By 1941 Mr. Harris was married to Lessie Mae Dunn. Two years later they were blessed with one son, Arthur Harris, Jr. / Arthur

He joined the US Army in 1942, during World War ll.  He spent three years, three months and 22 days in the army, receiving an honorable discharge in January 1946.

After he left the army, he worked for a short period of time driving and making deliveries for a drug store in downtown Hollywood. He continued his entrepreneurial skills by chauffeuring an attorney on Miami Beach. His next job was repairing the water lines at the Naval Base, which was located where the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport is today.

His move to Carver Ranches, in 1949, was on 18^th  Street near 42^nd Ave.

In 1955, Mr. Harris met Lettie B. Brantley and blended their family of five children. They attended Church of God in Christ, where they got married in 1957. Seven Children were born to this union. They changed their membership to New Macedonia. For 9 years they lived in the apartments on 44 Ave and 20^th Street.

They purchased their home in 1964 at 4501 SW 22 Street, in Carver Ranches, where he still resides 57 years later.

Mr. Harris. worked 19 years in sanitation with County Waste and 21 years with Ray Cantrell Construction Company.  He always had  his own business on the side: He owned and operated a restaurant on 40^th and 18^th Street in Carver Ranches and had a lawn service. Then he went into the business of hauling  trash and scrap metal.

For 50 years Home Depots from Kendall to Lake Worth would utilize his service and to this day he still continues to work, part time.