William Harrison

William Winford "B.W." Harrison, 94, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Sept. 13, 2004, at the Lutheran Home.

He was born May 2, 1910, at Salem, Mo., son of Abner and Ida R. Warden Harrison. He and Hazel Huhn, a graduate home economist, were married Oct. 19, 1947, in Cape Girardeau. She died Oct. 11, 1990.

In 1933, while attending the University of Missouri, B.W. began a 40-year career in extension work in county and state positions. He was an assistant county agent in Mississippi County, county agent in Dunklin County, state extension agent and Southeast District director. He has been a professor emeritus of extension education since his retirement in 1973.

B.W. was a Missouri 4-H Foundation trustee from 1974 to 1986. Since 1990 he served as trustee emeritus.

"In addition to his years of service in extension he has become one of the most generous donors in the history of the foundation," said Don Henderson, 4-H Foundation director at the University of Missouri.

In 1998 he received the Gordon Warren University Outreach and Extension Land Grant award for exemplifying the land grant mission and assisting others in the community and state.

He attended Old St. Vincent's Church and was active in many local organizations, notably the Cape Girardeau Historical Association and Friends of Old St. Vincent's Church.

B.W. was a well-known philanthropist donating his time and money to a multitude of causes including soccer field improvements at Shawnee Park, College of the Ozarks, Missouri 4-H Foundation, and Southeast Missouri State University Foundation, most recently completing the gift of his residence, the Huhn-Harrison House on the National Register of Historic Places, to the university. The house sits adjacent to Southeast River Campus property which was acquired by the university in 1998, through a gift from Mr. and Mrs. Harrison.

He received a B.S. degree in agriculture from the University of Missouri in 1936, and did graduate work at Colorado State University and the universities of Missouri and Wisconsin.

He was a member of Alpha Gamma Sigma social fraternity; Alpha Zeta and Gamma Sigma Delta, honorary agriculture societies; and Epsilon Sigma Phi, extension honorary.

Survivors include a nephew, James A. Norris of Salem, Mo., and numerous relatives and friends.

Friends may call at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday. Parish prayers will be at 6:30.

The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Old St. Vincent's Church, with the Rev. Tom Kiefer and Monsignor Richard Rolwing officiating. Burial will be in St. Mary's Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to Old St. Vincent's Church Historical Association.