More detail on this person: Samuel Young
Harris, 68, of Philadelphia died on August 23,
2013, at Pennsylvania Hospital. He was diagnosed
with esophageal cancer eighteen months earlier. He
is survived by his wife Celine and a stepson,
Trevor-Christian Sandlin. For over forty years,
Sam lived and worked in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. As an architect and structural
engineer, he was dedicated to the preservation of
historic structures, and he left an indelible mark
on the skyline of his adopted home. Sam was born
May 9, 1945, in Louisville, Kentucky, to Dr. and
Mrs. Warren Samuel Albert Harris. The family lived
in Louisville, Baltimore, and New York City before
moving to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in 1955.
Sam graduated from Woodbury Forest School
(Virginia), in 1963. After receiving a Bachelor of
Fine Arts from Amherst College in 1967, Sam
earned Master of Architecture and Master of
Science in Engineering degrees from the University
of Pennsylvania, and a law degree from the
University of Maryland.
Sam's professional career began at Keast & Hood,
Co. where he worked as a structural engineer on
the stabilization of a number of historic
properties, including the Fairmount Waterworks.
Later, he worked at Venturi, Rauch & Scott Brown
as an associate architect, was a founding partner
at Kieran, Timberlake & Harris, and was the
founder and principle of S. Harris Ltd. a
preservation design firm in Philadelphia.
Sam's dedication to the advancement of historic
preservation in the design community was amplified
and articulated during his twenty years as an
Adjunct Professor at the University of
Pennsylvania, teaching in the Department of
Architecture and Historic Preservation Programs.
During his tenure at Penn, he wrote and published
Building Pathology, the definitive text on the
subject of building deterioration, diagnostics and
intervention. In 2000, Sam received the G. Holmes
Perkins Award for distinguished teaching. He has
also lectured and taught at several other
prestigious institutions, notably as the Eero
Saarinen Distinguished Professor at Yale
University. Sam served on numerous historic
preservation boards and panels and remained a
lifelong preservation advocate and activist. One
of his proudest moments came in 1994, when he
was inducted into the Carpenters' Company founded
in 1724.
Sam retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the U.S.
Army Reserve after serving with distinction in the
101st Airborne. In Vietnam, as one of the fabled
"Dustoff" medical evacuation helicopter pilots,
Sam flew over 600 rescue missions and was
awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze
Star, and multiple Air Medals for bravery under
fire.
In addition to his wife and stepson, Sam is
survived by his sisters Susan Edwards of
Nashville, Tennessee, Laura (Gus) Phillips,
Decatur, Alabama; Mary (Jon) Jenrette of St.
Simon's Island, Georgia; and Martha (Joe)
Castellano of Myrtle Beach; and his cousins Ellen
(Chuck) White and Jim (Kathy) Harris and their son
Burke Harris of Bena, Virginia. He is also
survived by nieces and nephews Catherine (Phillip)
Tennant, Austin (Erin) Phillips, John C. Lavin,
Jr., Lauren Lavin, Harris Jenrette, Hampton
Jenrette, Cooper Jenrette; great nephew Theodore
Tennant and great nieces Virginia Tennant and Elle
Phillips.
For many years, Sam was involved with the historic
preservation and stabilization of the Eastern
State Penitentiary Historic Site, in Philadelphia.
A celebration of his life will be held in the
Rotunda of the Eastern State Penitentiary Historic
Site on September 24, 2013, at 6:00 p.m. A private
ceremony will be held at a later date in Bena,
Virginia.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that
donations in his memory be sent to the Eastern
State Penitentiary Historic Site, 2027 Fairmount
Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19130.
Published in The Sun News on August 29, 2013
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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