Harry Paul Garrett, 82, of Urbana, passed away at 6:20 A.M. on Sunday, December 28, 2014 at Champaign County Nursing Home, Urbana.

A visitation will be held from 5:00 P.M.to 7:00 P.M. on Thursday, January 1, 2015 at Renner-Wikoff Chapel, Urbana. Funeral Services will be held at 10:00 A.M. on Friday, January 2, 2015 at the funeral home. Burial will be at Mt. Hope Mausoleum with military rites performed by the American Legion #71.

Harry was born in Urbana on April 30, 1932 to parents Alvin Martin Garrett and Flossie Marie Pell Garrett. On November 15, 1952 he married his high school sweetheart, Patricia Ann Gordon, at First United Methodist Church in Urbana. She passed away on October 17, 2014, just a few weeks short of their 62nd anniversary. Also preceding Harry in death were his parents, three half-brothers (John Garrett, Raymond Hutcherson, Carl Hutcherson) and two half-sisters (Helen, who died as an infant, and Wilma Fern Cook). He is survived by his son, Mark Garrett (Patricia), daughter Lori Garrett (John Hoagland), and one grandson, Jeremy Garrett (Aimie), from Urbana.

Harry attended Urbana schools and the Illinois Commercial College. He served in the United States Air Force, partly during the Korean Conflict (War), from 1952 through 1956. He was stationed in Texas, Mississippi, and Reykjavik, Iceland, rising to the rank of Staff Sergeant and working in air traffic control. From this, Harry developed an endless love of aviation, attending many air shows and visiting aviation museums throughout his life. After returning home, Harry worked as an Insurance Investigator for Equifax, Inc. for over forty years, and after retirement he freelanced for Best Reports. He was a member of First United Methodist Church in Urbana, a member of the American Legion #71, and belonged to the Farm Bureau.

Since his mother's death in 1978, Harry had been a gentleman farmer, managing farming on land that has been in the Pell family for over a century. Harry was a talented carpenter and enjoyed wood-working. In the early 1980s, he and his son renovated the family's 1898-built Victorian home, which stood at 201 E. Washington in Urbana and included the original barn and chicken house.

An avid traveler, each summer Harry packed Pat, his children, and usually grandparents or aunts, uncles, and cousins into the family sedan for a two-week vacation. Through these annual journeys, by their mid-teens his son and daughter had visited all 48 contiguous United States and most National Parks and gained tremendous first-hand knowledge about our nation's people, history, and cultures. Harry's favorite trips included almost anywhere "out west," especially Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where the family made a tradition of enjoying bologna sandwich picnics while perched on boulders in the Little Pigeon River. Harry's family roots in Kentucky took the family to that state as well almost each year to visit relatives. In 1984, Harry was officially commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel, the highest honor awarded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Harry was a tall, strong man with a marshmallow heart. He was a devoted husband for almost 62 years and a devoted parent and grandparent. He loved spending time with his family and watching his grandson grow into manhood. His last smile was on Christmas Day when his whole family gathered around him. He and Pat were also animal lovers, adopting many cats and dogs through the years, including a whole family of farm cats. Harry's fondness for animals also found him helping his daughter organize a mouse relocation program, live-trapping intruding mice and releasing them in the countrya