Boyce Harris

BOYCE HARRIS Tupelo - Boyce Ervin Harris died September 21, 2012. He was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, on February 6, 1928, to Samuel Ervin Harris and Mary Alice Rice Harris. He graduated from Tupelo High School in 1945 and attended Mississippi State University where he was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, obtained a Business Degree and received a commission through his ROTC training, graduating in 1949. He married Jo Anne Stallings on October 15, 1950. In 1953, he received his orders for active duty with the United States Air Force and earned his wings at Williams Air Force Base in Phoenix, Arizona. He served as a pilot in the Korean conflict. After receiving his discharge from active duty, he joined the Air Reserve unit in Memphis, Tennessee, during which time he was called up for the Cuban Missile Crisis. When the reserve unit was deactivated in Memphis, he then joined the Mississippi Air National Guard operating out of Jackson, Mississippi, and flew numerous missions to Vietnam and throughout the world. He was a squadron pilot, squadron commander, director of operations, group commander of the 172nd and later assigned to State Headquarters, obtaining the rank of Brigadier General before being honorably discharged in 1979. During his Air Force career, he logged approximately 7,000 hours of flying time and was an instructor pilot in the aircrafts that he flew. In his civilian life, he was in sales with The Monts Company, retiring from this position in 1990. Services will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, September 23, 2012, at First United Methodist Church with Pastor James R. Curtis officiating. Burial will be in the Tupelo Memorial Park Cemetery. W.E. Pegues Funeral Directors will be in charge of the arrangements. Survivors include his wife of almost sixty-two years, Jo Anne Stallings Harris; one son, Hugh Ervin Harris and his wife Jan of Tupelo; one daughter, Nancy Jane Harris Hollaway and her husband Ronnie of Birmingham, Alabama; four grandchildren, Jennifer Brooks Hollaway, Wesley Harris Hollaway, Joseph Tanner Harris and Addison Elaine Harris. Visitation will be 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, September 22, 2012, at W.E. Pegues of Tupelo. He was preceded in death by his parents Sam and Mary Alice Harris. Pallbearers will be Wesley Hollaway, Tanner Harris, Robert Wilson, Robert Davis, Al Rice and Pete Harris Honorary pallbearers will be the Hardy's Coffee Group. Memorials may be made to the First United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 854, Tupelo, MS, 38802-0854 or the Sanctuary Hospice House, 5159 West Main Street, Tupelo, MS, 38801. Expressions of sympathy may be left at www.peguesfuneralhome.com .