I Am Jackson: Stan Harris

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STAN HARRIS

What is your hometown? 

I am a third generation Jacksonian, and I have lived here all my life other than when I was in college, the military, and law school.

Where else have you lived?

I lived for four years in Lexington, Virginia, while attending Washington & Lee University. Upon graduation I was drafted into the United States Army four months before the draft ended, and I was stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky, Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and Fort Bragg, North Carolina. I served two years in the military and one week after discharge I began law school at the University of Tennessee College of Law in Knoxville.

What is your profession?

I was a practicing attorney for 41 years until I retired in August, 2018. I chose a legal career because it was both interesting and challenging.

Where have you volunteered or contributed your time in efforts to give back? 

I have volunteered and served on numerous nonprofit boards and organizations in Jackson over the years, but I have been honored to have been the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Greater Jackson Chamber, the United Way of West Tennessee, the Jackson Rotary Club, the American Heart Association Go Red for Women, the STAR Center, the Jackson Arts Council, and The Jackson Symphony.

What are some of your favorite things about Jackson? 

The opportunities to give back by being a part of the many organizations and nonprofits here whether your passion is music, the theater, the ballet, feeding the hungry, working with young people, helping people recovering from addiction, working with victims of abuse, or helping people with disabilities.

Three words that best describe you. 

Dependable, Blessed, Grateful 

Favorite place for going out in Jackson?

I guess my favorite thing to do in Jackson, or at least what I do most often, is attend all the dinner events that nonprofit organizations ask me to buy tables for to help support their missions.

What is one thing that you do not go a day without?

My daily walk. The last day that I did not walk for at least thirty minutes was Thanksgiving Day of 2006. I have been truly blessed to have been healthy enough to walk every day for the last eighteen years

Finish this statement. I AM JACKSON because… 
I am Jackson because Jackson is my home and always has been. I was born here. My parents and all of my grandparents are buried here. I spent my formative years here, my professional career here, and now my retirement years here. Jackson has changed so much and it has changed for the better. Many people choose to relocate to Jackson because of everything it has to offer. I consider myself fortunate to have been born here, and I firmly believe that Jackson’s best days are still ahead.