Harris remembered at funeral as 'authentic, sincere and credible'
Former councilman gunned down outside jazz club
By Adam Bednar, abednar@patuxent.com
Posted 9/29/08
A single bagpipe played a mournful melody as former Councilman Ken Harris’s casket was closed and draped with the Baltimore City flag Sept. 25.
Loud sobs could be heard throughout the packed auditorium of the Murphy Fine Arts Building at Morgan State University.
The funeral service was attended by hundreds of family, friends and elected officials from Baltimore city and county.
“We’re not here because he left, but because he lived,” said his pastor, the Rev. P.M. Smith, the pastor of Huber Memorial Church in Govans.
Harris was slain in the parking lot of Northwood Shopping Center on Sept. 19, during what police characterized as a robbery gone bad at the New Haven Lounge.
Harris and a female friend had gone to the club, owned by his friend, Keith Covington, early that morning to borrow a corkscrew so they could open a bottle of wine.
Three masked men were preparing to rob the club and Harris was shot as he tried to flee in his car, police said.
At the funeral service, Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger told mourners he and Harris had met when Harris was PTA president at Leith Walk Elementary School.
Ruppersberger, a former student there, praised Harris as an honest, dedicated public servant.
“Ken was an authentic, sincere and credible person,” he said.
Harris’ daughter, Nicole Harris-Crest, said the community had lost a leader, and, “I’ve lost my daddy.”
She remembered her father’s sadness that he never knew his own father. That pain pushed him to be there for his own children, she said.
Sylvia Harris, Harris’ mother, remembered registering people to vote at a table at the corner of Cold Spring Lane and Park Heights Avenue. In particular, she remembered her young son approaching a stranger and imploring him to register.
“If you come to my table, we can make a change,” he told the man.
Harry Black, Harris’ best friend, spoke about how their lives changed after they made it out of the rough Park Heights neighborhood where they grew up.
Harris often talked about the need to still help kids from the old neighborhood, Black said.
“If we all don’t make it out, do any of us make it out?” he asked the audience.
Loud sobs could be heard throughout the packed auditorium of the Murphy Fine Arts Building at Morgan State University.
The funeral service was attended by hundreds of family, friends and elected officials from Baltimore city and county.
“We’re not here because he left, but because he lived,” said his pastor, the Rev. P.M. Smith, the pastor of Huber Memorial Church in Govans.
Harris was slain in the parking lot of Northwood Shopping Center on Sept. 19, during what police characterized as a robbery gone bad at the New Haven Lounge.
Harris and a female friend had gone to the club, owned by his friend, Keith Covington, early that morning to borrow a corkscrew so they could open a bottle of wine.
Three masked men were preparing to rob the club and Harris was shot as he tried to flee in his car, police said.
At the funeral service, Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger told mourners he and Harris had met when Harris was PTA president at Leith Walk Elementary School.
Ruppersberger, a former student there, praised Harris as an honest, dedicated public servant.
“Ken was an authentic, sincere and credible person,” he said.
Harris’ daughter, Nicole Harris-Crest, said the community had lost a leader, and, “I’ve lost my daddy.”
She remembered her father’s sadness that he never knew his own father. That pain pushed him to be there for his own children, she said.
Sylvia Harris, Harris’ mother, remembered registering people to vote at a table at the corner of Cold Spring Lane and Park Heights Avenue. In particular, she remembered her young son approaching a stranger and imploring him to register.
“If you come to my table, we can make a change,” he told the man.
Harry Black, Harris’ best friend, spoke about how their lives changed after they made it out of the rough Park Heights neighborhood where they grew up.
Harris often talked about the need to still help kids from the old neighborhood, Black said.
“If we all don’t make it out, do any of us make it out?” he asked the audience.
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