Harris honored on 90th birthday

Virgil Harris celebrated his 90th birthday on Saturday, Aug. 22 at the Western Sizzlin’ in Chickasha, with family members traveling from across the globe to attend.

This account of Harris’ life was written and read aloud by his son-in-law Chuck Ashcraft of Weatherford.

This is the story of a young whippersnapper named Virgil.

On Aug. 24, 1919, Virgil Melvin Harris was born at home between Cyril and Anadarko. Virgil’s proud parents were Alpha and Charley Harris. Virgil was the second oldest of seven children, two brothers and four sisters, which meant Virgil only had to wear hand-me-downs from one sibling.

The year Virgil was born, Woodrow Wilson was president, but he suffered a massive stroke in October. Democrat James Robertson was governor of Oklahoma and World War I was raging. American television evangelist Rex Humbard was born the same year as Virgil. Future Alabama Governor and presidential candidate George Wallace was born the day after Virgil was born. One of the more bizarre things that happened the day Virgil was born was major league baseball pitcher Ray Caldwell of Cleveland was flattened by a bolt of lightning.

Virgil attended school at Highview. An all-school photo showed Virgil sporting engineer-style coveralls and Robert Redford-looking blond hair. Virgil liked a cute girl named Alice Hunter and teacher Floy Lee Stepp made staying after class a pleasure.

She was a “hottie,” but she set Virgil’s pants on fire when he and a friend toppled a school outhouse onto a neighboring yard. Virgil liked arithmetic and enjoyed playing school-yard baseball.

As a young man growing up during the depression, Virgil, with $10 in his pocket, hitch-hiked to California to visit his Uncle Cecil and Aunt Nancy and to look for work. Virgil thumbed his way to Amarillo, Texas, but “No Hitchhiking” signs hampered his trek westward. Virgil found himself stranded in Kingman, Arizona and was later dropped off in the middle of the desert. Fortunately, a couple in a Lincoln Zephyr with a window air conditioner carried him the rest of the way to California.

While in the land of milk and honey, he picked peaches, cut potatoes, rode a watermelon truck to Los Angeles and shingled chicken houses with his brother-in-law Randall Dacus who was married to Virgil’s sister Finney. Virgil and a friend were able to buy a Nash car for only $31. Virgil soon took sole possession of the Nash and “rambled” back to Oklahoma.

Still needing work, Virgil made his way back to California and worked for three years in huge ship yard in the Oakland-Alameda area. More than 35,000 employees worked at the ship yard, but when the war ended and the pipefitters went on strike, the majority of the workers were laid off.

Also in 1919, the year Virgil was born, Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the united States, died in his sleep at the age of 60. The 18th Amendment was approved, making it illegal to sell alcohol and making bootlegging a profitable venture. The 19th Amendment, giving rights to women, was also ratified. World War I ended in 1919 and several Chicago White Sox baseball players conspired with gamblers to fix the World Series. The White Sox became known as the “Black Sox.”

While working in California, Virgil bought the first of two Model A Fords. His second Model A was stolen by an acquaintance and was wrecked in Kansas. After the ship yards layoffs, Virgil made his way back to Caddo County.

While actress Lana Turner was discovered in a California drug store, Virgil discovered the future queen of his heart and home, Zella Belle, who was working in a drug store in Cement. The young couple raced up and down the roads for about six weeks before they slipped away to Duncan and were secretly married. They did not reveal their wedding date and place to their families and loved ones until late in their life. Virgil and Zella started playing house in Cement where Virgil helped build apartments that still stand to this day in the town of Cement.

Virgil ran the Texaco service station in Cement until he was able to buy the APCO service station. Virgil and Zella owned and operated a laundromat and hotel in Cement, but then, in an effort to better provide for Zella, daughter Char-Len and son Melvin, the Harris’ packed up and headed for the oilfields. The Harris clan moved to La Mesa, Texas.

After returning to Chickasha, Virgil and his brood headed for the oil patches of Kansas. From there, they migrated to the Carson National Forest at Dulce in northwestern New Mexico.

In 1953, Virgil and his band moved to Aztec, N. M. and later moved to Farmington, N. M. before retiring and returning home to Chickasha in 1986. Virgil and the Harris herd hung their hats and parked their shoes in New Mexico for 34 years. Virgil worked for several different oilfield-related companies in New Mexico, from Aztec Well Service to Acme Rucker Tool, which he co-owned with Shug Roberts.

While zipping through life earning a living and raising his family, Virgil owned a variety of cars that he always kept sparkling clean and shiny, from his $31 Nash to Model As, chrome-laden Studebakers to Ford Falcons, Galaxies and T-Birds to Mercurys and Cougars. A ‘62 Chevy proved to be a lemon, making Virgil a Ford man for life. Virgil was not afraid to “put the pedal to the metal,” proving his Studebaker Commander could hit 90 miles an hour in second gear.

Virgil loved to fish, whether he was chasing a trout at William’s Creek Reservoir in Colorado or the San Juan River below the Navajo Dam. Virgil could charm a flathead or channel cat from the depths of Kerr Lake in eastern Oklahoma to wind-swept Ellsworth Lake in western Oklahoma. No one could “skin a cat,” (catfish, that is) like Virgil Harris or fry up a mess of tasty catfish fillets for family and friends.

Virgil had a tendency to rock the boat when he fished. For instance, one cold day at Burtschi Lake, southwest of Chickasha, Virgil was showing off a nice catch when he toppled into the frigid lake. That’s one fish that got away. Virgil was able to stagger to his car, crank up the heater and race home to Chickasha to thaw out and put on warm, dry clothes.

Another time, Virgil and Zella thought they had bought the farm when a spring storm ran them aground while fishing on massive Kerr Lake.

He lived, he loved, he laughed, he fished and while Virgil realizes life isn’t always fair, life is still good and that however bad a situation is, it will always change. As Virgil turns 90, he knows growing old beats the alternative - dying young.

Happy birthday, Virgil.

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