Wake Forest Hall of Famer Dave Harris Passes
7/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
July 20, 2010
Former Demon Deacon football standout and Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame member Dave Harris passed away on July 13, 2010 at the age of 85 after a hard-fought battle with cancer. He will be forever remembered by the many that he touched both at Wake Forest and across the state of North Carolina.
The son of the late David and Sallie Harris, Dave Harris was born in Trap Hill, N.C., and grew up in Statesville, N.C., where he was an all-state and all-conference football player at Statesville High School.
Harris attended Wake Forest on a football scholarship and was a standout end under coach Peahead Walker during the mid-1940s. He was named to the All-Southern Conference team in 1945 and 1946, and also earned honorable mention All-America honors in both of those seasons in addition to being selected to the 1946 All-America Blocking team. Harris helped lead the Demon Deacons to their first-ever postseason appearance in 1946 as they defeated South Carolina in the inaugural Gator Bowl.
After graduating from Wake Forest, Harris was selected by the Detroit Lions in the 1946 National Football League draft and was a two-year starter on the Charlotte Clippers Professional Football Team.
Following his football career, Harris pursued a career in education and he taught, coached and served as the athletic director at Charlotte's Harding High School for 20 years (1947-67), where his football teams won back-to-back state championships. Harris coached eight high school All-Americans, and 73 of his players received full college football scholarships. He was twice named North Carolina High School Football Coach of the Year, and was also named National High School Athletic Director of the Year, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Sportsman of the Year and North Carolina Athletic Director of the Year.
After leaving Harding, Harris became the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System Director of Athletics, a position he held for 24 years. He was honored as the North Carolina Athletic Director of the Century by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.
Harris remained an active supporter of Wake Forest throughout his life. He was inducted into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame in 1985 and was named Deacon Club Member of the Year in 1997. Harris served as the chairman of the Wake Forest Touchdown 2000 Campaign that resulted in the construction of Bridger Field House.
He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Mary Arden Harris, as well as two children, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
A service to celebrate his life was held on 11 a.m. on July 16 at the First Baptist Church Charlotte.