| MOULTRIE — Bert Harsh’s interests in many things
translated into a variety of ways that he helped the community, his friends
said Saturday. Harsh, long time civic leader, died Saturday at age 87, following a long illness. “He had a lot of interests,” said Melody Jenkins. “ … He loved nothing better than to be on his tractor out on his farm.” Except maybe flying, she amended. Flying is what brought Harsh to Moultrie. He moved here from Indiana to become administrator of Hawthorne Aviation, a civilian contractor that trained military pilots at Spence Field. When Hawthorne closed, Harsh became senior vice president of administration at Riverside Manufacturing Co., but he never lost that love of aviation, Jenkins said. Another of his interests was history, especially his own family history. “In fact he wrote a book about his family history that was published,” she said. And in the front of that book are two photos: one of Harsh and his wife shortly after their wedding, and the other of Harsh standing on the wing of a biplane. Jenkins said those were his two loves … and he never said which came first, although she feels sure it was his wife, Doris. Harsh served as a trustee of the library board when the current building was being built in the 1960s, said Jenkins, who is now library director, and he was chairman of the library board in the 1980s — just in time to help build the Odom Genealogy Library. When the genealogical wing was finished, he helped transform some extra space by the library parking lot into a park. He was instrumental, Jenkins said, in getting trees through Historic Trees of America to plant there. Historic Trees of America provides descendants of trees that belonged to important Americans, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and others. The park became the first one in the nation in which every tree was a descendant of a historic tree, Jenkins said. Because of his love for trees, his work on the library and his interest in that park, the area was named in Harsh’s honor. Harsh was also a spiritual man, his friends said. His work with First Presbyterian Church was beyond commendable, said the Rev. Hugh Ward, the church’s pastor. “Every person who is a pastor needs to have the gift of having someone in the church such as Bert Harsh,” Ward said. Harsh showed “every Christian grace,” he said. Harsh held the highest elected office in the local Presbyterian church, clerk of the session. He was involved with the church’s youth and with the Sunday school program. He held positions as deacon and elder. Ward said Harsh was a convivial leader who got things done by winning and wooing people. “You wanted to follow where he’d lead you,” he said. And he had a sense of humor. “He told the longest, corniest jokes you ever heard,” Ward said. “The punch lines were real groaners.” Among his other civic associations were: • The YMCA, of which he was president of the board when the Y decided to build a new facility. • Rotary Club, of which he has served as president. • The American Cancer Society Board, of which he has served as chairman. • The Hospital Authority. He was chairman as the authority raised funds to build Colquitt Regional Medical Center. • The Airport Authority, of which he has served as chairman. In 1987, the Moultrie-Colquitt County Chamber of Commerce named Harsh its Man of the Year. Harsh was a close friend to Bud Vereen, founder of Riverside Manufacturing. Vereen’s son, Jerry, now president of Riverside, said Harsh had meant a lot to the city, the county and Riverside. “Bert Harsh was one of the finest, most Christian gentlemen I ever knew,” Vereen said. “… We’ve all lost a good friend in Moultrie and Colquitt County. We’ll miss Bert.” |