Greetings,
On Friday, I attended the service to celebrate the life of Lonnie James Harris at the Rose Hills Memorial Park near Whittier. I got there a bit early before the 11am service started, and as I drove up to the top of the hill, it was a beautiful warm clear sunny day. The "Chapel" was actually a very large majestic cathedral-like structure, lots of glass to let the sunny day in.
I walked to the front, just as they were letting people in, and went up
to pay my last respects to this great man. The top half of the casket
was open to allow you to view Lonnie, the second closed half was draped
with an American flag. He looked calm and peaceful in a suit, but what I
didn't expect to see was the current LA Marathon medal around his
neck. He got the medal for the marathon that he had trained so hard
for, but was not able to participate in. It would have been his 29th as
a Legacy runner. Next to the casket was a picture of Lonnie, and the
actual framed display of all his previous Marathon medals.
At
least 200 people were there for the service, which lasted for an hour,
and a very large group of his close family and relatives were there.
Both a Pastor and a Reverend, read from the Bible, and gave words of
encouragement, giving a very Christian view of what life and death means
to them. Several family members recounted their memories and attributes
about Lonnie. Representatives of his Vipassena meditation group and the Legacy runners also spoke.
I've been to many services, maybe too many, and it's the ones for people that you feel have left too early are the tough ones. The good die young.
What's always interesting is to realize that the person you felt you knew, this very friendly and approachable person, has many facets which you didn't know about. I only knew Lonnie through the Roadrunners, and he's been to my home a few times for the BBQ, so it was great to hear more about him.
One of his nephews talked about how growing up in Compton, not too many kids had an uncle that would take them up in a small plane and fly around. Lonnie had a pilots license, he had served in the Air Force. A first cousin told us how Lonnie gave her some tough love advice and told her to do her jail time because of her drug addiction. Lonnie helped out at AA. One of the leaders of the Meditation center told about the generosity of Lonnie driving out to 29 Palms every weekend and his commitment to his studies. Lonnie was a devoted student of an India based meditation group. To his family, he was known as "LJ".
I sat with Jose and Dennis, both former members of RW5, and there must of been close to a dozen Legacy runners there, and I thanked Nick Curl, the Marathon race director for getting the medal to the Harris family, a very classy act.
These events are always tough and bittersweet. It was great to see a side of Lonnie that I had no idea about, and it was great to see all the diverse groups of people that came to celebrate their friendship with him, and I'm sure we all felt that we knew him just a bit better or closer, and then to find out everyone in that room shared this same sentiment. It's a testament to how giving a person Lonnie is that he could bring so many people together and have had such an intimate understanding. It's something worth striving for, something we all can grow to emulate...but the lesson is that we all have to go some day, we can't really control the time we have. It was sad and it was beautiful.
I've transcribed the Obituary as it appeared in the program that was handed out to the people at the service. This is followed by an article written about Lonnie, published 4 years ago in The Daily Breeze, a publication out of Torrance.
Walt
-----------------------------------
Obituary
Lonnie James Harris "L.J." was born on February 15, 1947 to Joe and Corrine Harris in Los Angeles, CA. Lonnie received his general education from Compton School District. He received his Masters in Behavior Science from California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, CA. Lonnie served in United States Air Force and received an Honorable Discharge.
He later met and married the love of his life Connie Lofton. They were married for 38 years. Lonnie was involved in numerous organizations. He was a member of Vipassena Meditation Group. He was also a legacy runner. He was preparing to run his twenty-ninth (29) Marathon at the time of his death.
Lonnie always stated that upon his death he would love to die doing the things he loved to do.
Lonnie was preceded in death by his mother and father, his son Darwin; two brothers, Jessie (Lee Lee), Oliver (Hank); two sisters June and Barbara.
He leaves to cherish precious memories his loving wife Connie; sisters Martha Pittman (Clarence), Jalona Battle (James), Nudie Rose, Maddie Harris; stepchildren, Larry (Sunny), Judy; grandchildren Laurren, Tiffany, Patrice and Patricia; two great grandchildren Noah and Christrian, all of California, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
The lives of those he touched will be richer as a result of knowing him. Lonnie received Jesus Christ as his Personal Savior.
Harris belongs to a group of legacy runners organized by Manhattan Beach resident Denny Smith and his friend Lou Briones, who, 15 years ago, decided to form a club for people who have been participating since the beginning.
On Friday, I attended the service to celebrate the life of Lonnie James Harris at the Rose Hills Memorial Park near Whittier. I got there a bit early before the 11am service started, and as I drove up to the top of the hill, it was a beautiful warm clear sunny day. The "Chapel" was actually a very large majestic cathedral-like structure, lots of glass to let the sunny day in.
 |
| Rose Hill Chapel |
I've been to many services, maybe too many, and it's the ones for people that you feel have left too early are the tough ones. The good die young.
What's always interesting is to realize that the person you felt you knew, this very friendly and approachable person, has many facets which you didn't know about. I only knew Lonnie through the Roadrunners, and he's been to my home a few times for the BBQ, so it was great to hear more about him.
One of his nephews talked about how growing up in Compton, not too many kids had an uncle that would take them up in a small plane and fly around. Lonnie had a pilots license, he had served in the Air Force. A first cousin told us how Lonnie gave her some tough love advice and told her to do her jail time because of her drug addiction. Lonnie helped out at AA. One of the leaders of the Meditation center told about the generosity of Lonnie driving out to 29 Palms every weekend and his commitment to his studies. Lonnie was a devoted student of an India based meditation group. To his family, he was known as "LJ".
I sat with Jose and Dennis, both former members of RW5, and there must of been close to a dozen Legacy runners there, and I thanked Nick Curl, the Marathon race director for getting the medal to the Harris family, a very classy act.
These events are always tough and bittersweet. It was great to see a side of Lonnie that I had no idea about, and it was great to see all the diverse groups of people that came to celebrate their friendship with him, and I'm sure we all felt that we knew him just a bit better or closer, and then to find out everyone in that room shared this same sentiment. It's a testament to how giving a person Lonnie is that he could bring so many people together and have had such an intimate understanding. It's something worth striving for, something we all can grow to emulate...but the lesson is that we all have to go some day, we can't really control the time we have. It was sad and it was beautiful.
I've transcribed the Obituary as it appeared in the program that was handed out to the people at the service. This is followed by an article written about Lonnie, published 4 years ago in The Daily Breeze, a publication out of Torrance.
Walt
-----------------------------------
Obituary
Lonnie James Harris "L.J." was born on February 15, 1947 to Joe and Corrine Harris in Los Angeles, CA. Lonnie received his general education from Compton School District. He received his Masters in Behavior Science from California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, CA. Lonnie served in United States Air Force and received an Honorable Discharge.
He later met and married the love of his life Connie Lofton. They were married for 38 years. Lonnie was involved in numerous organizations. He was a member of Vipassena Meditation Group. He was also a legacy runner. He was preparing to run his twenty-ninth (29) Marathon at the time of his death.
Lonnie always stated that upon his death he would love to die doing the things he loved to do.
Lonnie was preceded in death by his mother and father, his son Darwin; two brothers, Jessie (Lee Lee), Oliver (Hank); two sisters June and Barbara.
He leaves to cherish precious memories his loving wife Connie; sisters Martha Pittman (Clarence), Jalona Battle (James), Nudie Rose, Maddie Harris; stepchildren, Larry (Sunny), Judy; grandchildren Laurren, Tiffany, Patrice and Patricia; two great grandchildren Noah and Christrian, all of California, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
The lives of those he touched will be richer as a result of knowing him. Lonnie received Jesus Christ as his Personal Savior.
On Sunday, runner Lonnie J. Harris is hoping to continue a tradition he started 25 years ago.
The Carson resident has participated in the Los Angeles Marathon since it started in 1986.
He's
raced in other marathons - including four in Long Beach and two on the
Palos Verdes Peninsula. But Harris said the Los Angeles race is is
favorite.
"L.A. is based on a people's marathon," the 63-year-old
said. "There's around a million spectators. It seems as if all of L.A.
is running."
Harris belongs to a group of legacy runners organized by Manhattan Beach resident Denny Smith and his friend Lou Briones, who, 15 years ago, decided to form a club for people who have been participating since the beginning.
"Our membership closed 25 years ago," Smith said. "Nobody can join our group now."
The
organization makes T-shirts and holds a big lunch a week after the race
to show the medals members get for completing and to share any
interesting or funny stories.
"(We're) a great reflection of what
L.A. is," Smith said. "We had 233 legacy runners last year and everyone
is culturally and economically diverse. We have married couples,
wheelchair racers, blue-collar workers and rich people."
The main goal for legacy runners is to participate in and finish each L.A. marathon, whether or not their race times are good.
For Harris, training is a yearlong process that involves both mental and physical exercises.
Harris
belongs to the L.A. Marathon's official training group called the
Roadrunners. Members of the group meet every Saturday from August until
March and add a few miles to their schedule every week.
By the
end of 38 weeks, the members runs as much as 20 miles a Saturday. In
addition to running, Harris also engages in deep meditation to help him
focus on the event.
But when the participants begin running and the soreness sets in, the crowd becomes the runners' biggest motivator.
"A
lot of wonderful groups come out and support us," Harris said. "There's
a lot of people who sing, which helps take your mind off what you're
doing. It's a spiritual lift."
Frank McCourt, owner of the Los
Angeles Dodgers and the L.A. Marathon, decided to change the course for
the first time in 25 years. The 26.2-mile race will start at Dodger
Stadium and continue through West Hollywood and Beverly Hills until
ending at Santa Monica.
Racers will park in Santa Monica and be shuttled to the stadium from 3 to 6 a.m.
As a marathoner, Harris doesn't know when he's going to stop running.
"People are living to be over 100," Harris said. "I think I'll be running for quite some time."
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