Barney Harris lived a life of service. From fighting for his country to protecting his community as a first responder to supporting his family, he was a role model to his children, his grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren.
Mr. Harris, of Mattituck, passed away July 18 at the age of 98. His accolades run the gamut, but one of his most notable achievements was earning the distinction of being the longest-serving volunteer firefighter in New York State, with 73 years active duty in the department.
On July 25, a ladder arch with the American flag waved above Depot Lane outside Our Lady of Ostrabrama R.C. Church in Cutchogue in honor of Mr. Harris. Members of both the Mattituck and Cutchogue fire departments provided ladder trucks for the display to pay their final respects to the veteran fireman. Local police officers also led a motorcade outside of the church.
Mr. Harris joined the Southold Police Department in 1949 and worked there for 35 years — retiring as a sergeant in 1987. He joined the Mattituck Fire Department on Feb. 15, 1951, after moving to that hamlet from Southold, where he’d also volunteered as a firefighter.
Over the last seven decades, Mr. Harris rose through the ranks of Supply Hose Company No. 4 and continued to advance when he was moved to Fire Police Company No.5.
Chief Robert Haas, a member of the Mattituck Fire Department for 15 years, said Mr. Harris loved the department and was “well liked by many if not all.”
“He became a brother fireman and was never shy to let you know how he really felt about things,” Mr. Haas wrote. “He was always out directing traffic with the fire police on all [motor vehicle accidents] and other calls — he would stand out there for however long he was needed to [work] with the other men.”
Barney Harris was born to Polish immigrants Peter and Mary Hareza on a farm in Peconic in 1926 — his surname was later Americanized to “Harris.” Growing up during the Great Depression, he was the youngest of seven children and attended Southold High School, but dropped out his junior year to work on oyster boats in Greenport.
In 1944, at age 18, he was drafted into the U.S. Army to serve in World War II. He was sent to the Philippines and later to Japan after the war ended in August 1945. His family noted that he captured a Japanese battle flag in the South Pacific.
In 2021, when the Mattituck Fire Department celebrated his 95th birthday and 70 years of service, Mr. Harris told former Suffolk Times senior editor Steve Wick the tale of how he saved Albert Einstein from possibly drowning in Peconic Bay in the early 1940s, when he rented a bungalow on Nassau Point. Mr. Harris returned from the war in 1947 and joined the Southold Police Department, which at the time had only five members. He married Clare, in 1952 at Our Lady of Ostrabrama, and they were married for 62 years, until her death in 2012. They had four daughters: Susan, JoAnn, Sharon and Bonnie, who passed away in 2006. Mr. Harris lived in the house he built himself for over six decades.
His family said that outside of his career, he “loved to laugh” and “have a good time.” He was an avid golfer who also enjoyed harness/thoroughbred horse racing, visiting Foxwoods Casino, playing cards, watching baseball and spending time with family and friends.
Mr. Haas said that, growing up around the firehouse, he recalled Mr. Harris always “wearing his golf outing hats.”
“He was always polite and said to me, ‘How ya doing, young man?’” Mr. Haas wrote. “I always enjoyed having coffee with Barney in the mornings down at the firehouse with the coffee crew over the last few years. That’s when I really got to know him.”
His son-in-law Tim Sceviour said at the funeral mass that Mr. Harris treated him like his own son from the moment he starting dating his wife, JoAnn, in 1976.
“There were so many of you that could say the same thing, all the relatives, all the friends, Dad was so hospitable,” Mr. Sceviour said. “He had a tremendous work ethic — he took care of his family and provided for his family.”
Mr. Sceviour said his father-in-law, a man of few words, showed his love through his actions, but in his final days, he made sure to get in as many “I love yous” as he could.
The former police sergeant also left an impact on those beyond his family and circle of friends. Mr. Sceviour recalled a time a few years ago when they were at the Southold Fish Market and multiple people lined up just to talk to Mr. Harris.
“In the 1970s, instead of arresting them, Dad gave them a good kick in the pants, straightened them up and they said [to him], ‘Thanks to you, I’m on the right road all these years later,’ ” Mr. Sceviour said. “It was a pride to me that I could call him my dad, my father.”
Getting emotional, Mr. Sceviour urged the family’s younger generations — especially the grandkids and great-grandkids — to consider Mr. Harris’s legacy and his strength in putting others before himself.
“When you have decisions to make, think about how they impact others,” Mr. Sceviour advised. “Think about others more than yourself, because that is what Dad’s life was all about.”