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Harrison, William 'Bill'
William “Bill” Harrison, 75, died suddenly Friday evening, April 2, 2010, at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids. Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, April 6, at Phillips Funeral Home Chapel, 212 E. Sixth St., Vinton. Interment will be at Cox Cemetery near Urbana, with graveside military rites conducted by the Walter J. Meyocks American Legion Post 264 of Urbana. Friends may call at the funeral home from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday.
William Harrison was born Nov. 25, 1934, near Vinton, the son of Delbert L. and Gladys (Myres) Harrison, and graduated from Brandon High School in 1953. He represented Urbana at Hawkeye Boys State in 1952. During the summer of 1953, following his graduation from high school, Bill played professional baseball with the Minor League White Sox Farm Team in Illinois and Kentucky.
On Dec. 28, 1956, he married Mary Lou Brockway at Brandon. Bill served with the armed forces from January 1957 to January 1959 in France. He worked at Wilson & Co. and Farmstead Foods for over 31 years and also during that time, he and Mary Lou established and ran their farming operation. Bill and Mary Lou started farming north of Brandon and moved to their present farm home outside of Urbana in 1965. Bill served on the East Central Iowa REC Board for 21 years from 1987 to 2008.
After retiring from farming in December 1999, Bill enjoyed collecting and restoring antique John Deere tractors, spending time with his family and grandchildren, tracing family history, and traveling and seeing different sites. He was a member of the United Methodist Church in Urbana.
Survivors include his wife, Mary Lou; son, Mike Harrison and wife Kamie of Rochester Hills, Mich.; daughter, Holly Harrison-Hosford and husband Bryan Hosford of Amana; three grandchildren, Kelsey and Dalton Harrison and Connor Hosford; his brother, Keith (Marilyn) Harrison of Vinton; and his nephew and niece, Jeff (Kristy) Harrison of Urbandale and Penny Midthun of Vinton.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
A memorial fund has been established.
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