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Harris Symes Obituary

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Harris Symes

Tucson, AZ

March 6, 1908 - February 3, 2011

Harris Symes Obituary

Harris Russell Symes 1908- 2011 102, Tucson resident for 38 years, died Wednesday, February 3, 2011, after a brief illness. He was born in Detroit, Mich., March 6, 1908, the son of Russell William and Mary Lehmann Symes. His parents and his younger brother, Douglas Lehmann Symes preceded him in death. In 1928, Harris Symes graduated from St. John's Northwestern Military Academy. He received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Michigan State University in 1932. That same year, he married Bernice Adelaide Grueneberg. They had one son, Russell Walter Symes, born in 1934; they divorced in 1957; she died in 1997. In 1964, Harris Symes married Elizabeth Stuart Kennedy Frazer. Elizabeth Stuart Symes died in 1983. In 1985, he married Maxine G. Schuster Radsch. Maxine Radsch Symes died in 2001. His surviving immediate family includes his son, Russell (Helen Fauerbach Symes). Green Valley; as well as a niece and nephew in Michigan, Nancy (Ron) Siebert, Pleasant Ridge, and Robert (Fran) Symes, Sterling Heights. Following university graduation in 1932, Harris worked for Price Waterhouse & Co. before joining Detroit Edison Co. in 1933. He started with the company (now DTE Energy) in the general accounting department and, in 1941, transferred to the auditing department where he was named assistant general auditor in 1946. He held several offices in the Detroit Chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors and served on the Internal Auditing Committee for Edison Electric Institute. That group awarded him a certificate of appreciation for his service as Coordinator of the General Activities Group, 1963-64. In 1968, he was elected Corporate Secretary, Detroit Edison Co. A year later, he was elected to membership in the American Society of Corporate Secretaries, Inc. Symes was known as a sounding board for other members of management and for his easy manner and wise counsel. In 1973, he and his wife, Elizabeth retired to a home at Omni Tucson National Golf Resort, Tucson, Ariz., where he was an active golfer until age 86. He and his wife, Maxine moved to The Forum of Tucson, a senior living facility where he was an energetic volunteer. He gave up driving until age 100. He was active in the Episcopal Church, serving on the financial committee for the Diocese of Michigan; also as a vestryman and senior warden for St. John's Church, Royal Oak, Mich. He served for a number of years as head usher at Tucson's St. Philip's in the Hills Episcopal Church and organized that church's columbarium. A Memorial Funeral Service will be Wednesday, February 16, 2011, 2:00 p.m. in the living room of The Forum at Tucson, 2500 N. Rosemont Blvd. with the Rev. Sumith S. DeSilva, associate at St. Alban's Episcopal Church, Tucson, presiding. A reception at The Forum will follow. A committal service and inurnment at St. Philips in the Hills will be at a later date. The Rev. Clare Yarborough will officiate. In lieu of flowers, the family would welcome contributions to be made in Harris's name to a local food bank. Arrangements are by ADAIR FUNERAL HOMES, Dodge Chapel.

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