For this column, I depend a lot on recommendations. Recently, someone told me of the Rev. John Harris, a Baptist pastor who is also the campus police chief of East Central Community College. Again, I am thankful for the important position that the college holds here in Decatur, and it is good to discover the roles played by administrators, teachers or staff members there on campus.
John Calvin Harris was born April 11, 1958, in Meridian to Robert and Annie Harris, the fourth, and middle child, of seven. First born was Rhonda, then Ricky, then Robert and John. Following were Ondray, who is a justice court judge in Meridian, Cathy and Louann. The family lived in a 1000-foot home, with three bedrooms—one for the parents, one for the boys, and one for the girls—and one bathroom.
Mr. Harris’s father worked at a wholesale food store, A.J. Lyons, and when cans came off the truck bent, he was allowed to take them home. Also, he remembers all kinds of fruit trees in the neighborhood. “We never went hungry.” His grandparents and other older people were strong influences on him. He told me, “My family was, and still is, a close-knit family.” His father passed away a few years ago, then later his brother Robert, but he told me, “My relationship with God had already secured my stability during those times so it wasn’t a surprise. I was already ready for it.”
Concerning his personal life, Chief Harris was married years ago to Gwen Adams from Meridian, Mississippi. Recently, on Aug. 3, 2019, he married Darlene Hudson Harris of Walnut Grove. He has six grown children, Tracey, Ladell, John Jr., Arthur, Gloria and Sterling, and is thankful that all his children have also had “their eyes…opened to see Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.” His wife Darlene is a retired Leake County Deputy Tax Assessor, with over 25 years of service. She has two children of her own, and, together, they have 15 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He called Darlene, “my divinely sent loving wife, my jewel,” saying, “God prepared the two of us for a lifestyle of ministering his good news together by his grace and love.”
Though most of his years growing up he attended Meridian Public Schools, about three years were spent in Wechsler Elementary School, which was built in Meridian in 1894 as the first brick school in Mississippi built for blacks. The training he received there was significant and memorable. He told of how a Mr. Thomas taught the boys how to be gentlemen.
John said he played some sports in middle school, but he primarily was concerned about making money. Nicknamed “Buddy” by the elderly residents of the area, they would say, “Call Buddy,” when they needed anything done, such as yardwork. He noted that he learned a lot from these old folks, especially the old women, some who would take him fishing with them. John would dig the baits and the old ladies would catch the fish, using very long cane poles. Also, one of his jobs back then was washing dishes at Weidmann’s Restaurant in downtown Meridian.
His 1976 graduation class from Meridian High School was significant to John in that he said, speaking of the integrated class, “We all got along and had our reunion together.” After graduation, he attended Meridian Junior College one semester before moving to Houston, Texas, to work where his aunt and uncle lived. Also, through the years, he has furthered his education, taking coursework at the University of Indianapolis, Trinity Theological Seminary, Federal Express Quality University and the University of Houston.
Having been raised in church, he had given his heart to the Lord Jesus Christ in 1977, just out of high school. He explained that his experience was like that of the prodigal son, when “I just came to myself, to realize where I was and that I couldn’t live without the Lord.” He continued, “My life was empty and a merry-go-round, without the Lord, and I wanted it to stop. It was the grace and love of God that led me there.”
He spoke of being a “new creature,” like that of II Corinthians 5:17. Also, he understands the importance of Jesus’s work on the cross, when he said, “It is finished,” and believes that gives him his identity. He says, “I can live in the finished work of the Lord. I’m part of what he did.” Bro. Harris also emphasized the grace of God, and his relationship with God, saying, “Anything that tries to put works ahead of grace, I shun that, because that’s not where I am.”
A few years later, he answered God’s call into the ministry, which he has done for over 30 years, pastoring in Baptist churches in Texas, Indiana and Mississippi, presently serving as pastor of Poplar Springs Missionary Baptist Church in Savoy, Mississippi.
Other positions of note have included his being president of the NAACP of Meridian for five or six years. He has written for a Christian newspaper in Meridian, served as director of Mission Meridian, a reconciliation ministry, on the boards of the Salvation Army, Lauderdale County, State Democratic Party and the Mid-Mississippi Development District and served Ward 5 on the Meridian City Council from 2004-2008. He commented of his time working for the NAACP, “It wasn’t about being black. It was about treating people right, as a Christian.”
Prior work experience has been varied, as he has been a driver and loss prevention investigator for Fed-Ex and a director at Clark Memorial Funeral Home. Chief John Harris came to Decatur with a long history of law enforcement training and experience. Having graduated from the Police Training Academy in Jackson, in 1989, he served as a Meridian police officer, a correctional officer with GEO Group, and Chief of Campus Police of the Meridian Community College just prior to joining the ECCC staff in 2012. He was promoted to Chief of Campus Police here in 2013. When I asked about his witness as a Christian, he asserted that he just tried to “live it out in front of them.”
A student, Jonathan Green, a sophomore at East Central this year, sent Chief Harris a letter thanking him and others on the ECCC police force for their service on campus. Jonathan stated that Chief Harris and other officers last year had “shown extreme kindness to me and other students.” He told of having to stay late in the lab to work on assignments, with officers “walking by the door and peeking in to see if everything was ok,” and with no one ever showing any “frustration or anger with me staying late.” The young engineering student stated, “I would not have been able to complete my assignments if not for those hours.”
It was enlightening to read young Jonathan’s letter to Chief Harris, as it made me understand even more how much we need to appreciate the work of each person who helps make Decatur a safe and congenial place to live.
L. Agnes Russell covers the Decatur Community News.
