SHERIDAN - Funeral services for Walter F. Harris, 89, will be held at 10 a.m. today at Champion Ferries Funeral Home with Pastor Chuck Lucas officiating.  Interment will be in Sheridan Elks Cemetery.

He died Aug. 13, 2001, at Westview Health Care Center in Sheridan.

He was born Aug. 11, 1912 in Alliance, Neb., the son of Walter and Emma (Kulper) Harris.  The family moved to Sheridan when he was 5 years old and he was raised and educated in Sheridan and graduated from Sheridan High School.

During World War II, he served in the Air Force.

On Sept. 5, 1953, he married Ada Gleason in Sheridan.

He worked as a reporter for the Sheridan Press, where his beat was Main Street of Sheridan.  By the time he retired in 1987, he had become the sports editor.

He enjoyed sports and, for many years, refereed high school basketball and football.  He also enjoyed working the ballpark and rodeo events.

He was a member of the Elks Lodge No. 520, Eagles Lodge and the American Legion.

Survivors include two sons, Jerry Ellis of Aurora, Colo., and Gary Donnelly of Anchorage, Alaska; two sisters, Naomi Bissell and Winifred Woodhead, both of Sheridan; 11 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his wife; a sister, Nellie Harris; and a brother, Floyd Harris.

Memorials may be made to the Alzheimer's Foundation, in care of Delphine Toner, First Interstate Bank, Box 2007, Sheridan 82801.