AN art teacher who inspired generations of Islanders in a career spanning four decades has died in Jersey at the age of 91.
Born in Edinburgh in 1930, Leo Harris – the youngest son of John Francis and Anne Winn-Harris – was an Islander by accident.
The family, who ran a garage business in Edinburgh’s Blackhall suburb, had come to Jersey to check on the family-owned Marina Hotel, but ended up trapped here by the rapid progress of the German advance through Europe.
Having attended the Benedictine Preparatory School in Edinburgh’s Morningside before the war, he continued his education in occupied Jersey at De La Salle College with his elder brother Francis.
After Liberation, Mr Harris left the Island to study at Salesian College, Cowley; St Mary’s, Twickenham; and Goldsmith’s College.
He returned to the Island in 1965 to take up the post of head of art at the newly-built Les Quennevais School, which had opened that year, and to marry his wife, Yvonne (née Chevalier), a nurse at the General Hospital.
Mr Harris was to spend 24 years at the school before retiring in 1989. However, that was not the end of his career, as he went on to teach art at Victoria College alongside his great friend, the artist Robert Tilling. He also taught at Jersey College for Girls until 1998.
Commodore of St Helier Yacht Club, Mr Harris met his wife through their shared passion for sailing. He was also an instinctive, self-taught engineer, spending many hours building everything from houses to boats, cars and motorbikes.
During retirement, he would regularly take part in events commemorating the Occupation, and would willingly share his recollections with others, as he did more formally in his book, A Boy Remembers, published in 2000.
A devout Roman Catholic, he was Eucharistic Minister at Sacred Heart, St Aubin.
Mr Harris passed away at home on Friday, [8 April] surrounded by his family.
