G. Carleton Harris - Obituary

eorge Carleton Harris was born on October 14, 1941, in Dublin, GA, and grew up in Jacksonville, FL. He received his BA from the University Georgia in 1961 and was a graduate research assistant 1965-66, earning his MA degree in 1966. He did postgraduate work at UGA as an assistant from 1967-1969. He served in the US Navy as a special warfare officer and retired as a lieutenant in the US Navy Reserves. He was awarded the Special Warfare Qualified Medal, the National Defense Service Medal with three stars, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal with two stars, the Naval Expeditionary Medal, the American Expeditionary Forces Medal, the Naval Reserve Meritorious Reserve Medal with four stars, the Navy Achievement, the Navy Expert Pistol Shot Medal and the Navy Expert Rifle Medal. He then continued his career as a civil servant, retiring as a GS13. He was an Assistant Professor of political science at The Citadel, Charleston, South Carolina, 1968—1969; Civilian Chief Employee, Career Developer and head of Employee Relations at Loring AFB, Maine, 1971—1977. He became a personnel specialist at Andrews AFB Air Force Systems Command Hdqrs, Washington, DC, in 1977, and later transferred to Defense Information Systems Agency, Arlington, VA. He taught at Air Command and Staff College in 1983. He held offices in the Reserve Officers Association, based in Washington, DC, and in other local chapters throughout the US. He also held other positions with the Naval Reserve. He belonged to the American Management Association, Naval Institute, American Society of Public Administration, and the International Personnel Management Association. He was the author of "On Target...You Can Get There from Here," 1978. He developed the technology to allow police officers to run automobile tag numbers and identify the driver of the vehicle before pulling the vehicle over and approaching the driver. He saved countless police officers' lives by developing this technology. After being selected for Who’s Who in the World, Carleton was subsequently selected for Who's Who in the South, the USA, Finance and Industry, and others. Carleton was raised Episcopalian but converted to Roman Catholicism in the mid-1980's. He was active in St. Mary's Catholic Church in Piscataway, MD, where he sang in the choir and helped the choir raise money for robes by canning and selling tomato preserves. He was also active as a catechist and a cantor. After moving to Macon, GA, c. 2005. he quickly became an active and greatly loved parishioner at St. Joseph Catholic Church. He sang in both the 9:30 Mass choir and the Men's Schola, rarely missing a rehearsal, a Mass, or any other activity involving either group. (He also on occasion stepped in at the last minute to take the place of a cantor who was ill.) With the Choirs of St. Joseph, he toured Italy in 2007, singing at Masses in St. Peter's Basilica, the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, and the Basilica di San Marco in Venice. In addition to his participation in and strong support of the Music Ministry, Carleton also was active in the R.C.I.A. program, the Knights of Columbus, and served as a lay eucharistic minister at St. Joseph. An avid musician from childhood, at the age of sixteen he gave what turned out to be his first and last violin recitals at Carnegie Hall (due to unkind reviews from the critics). He gave up playing the violin but continued to love music. He also enjoyed gardening, canning, cooking, and reading. He was a collector of antiques and loved vintage cars, especially his Triumph TR6. He was a history buff as well. He was the son of the late Cephas Willard and Eloise (Chapman) Harris, husband of Doris Jean Harris whom he married on July 7, 1979, and the adoptive father of Raymond Carleton Harris of Kansas City, MO. Relatives and friends attended Carleton’s Life Celebration on Saturday, February 26, 2011, with a viewing at 10AM, followed by the Mass of Christian burial at 10:30AM at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Piscataway, MD. Interment will be held on July 5, 2011, at 3PM at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.