Norman Harris

Norman Harris, of the Endeavour District, passed away peacefully on Sunday, February 1, 2026. He was 88 years of age.

A Prayer Service will be held on Thursday, February 5, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. from the Chapel of Preeceville Funeral Home.

Funeral Services will be held on Friday, February 6, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. from All Saints Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Endeavour.

For those unable to attend, a live-stream of the service may be viewed by clicking on this link after 10:15 a.m. on Friday.

Interment will follow in the Harris Cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to the All Saints Ukrainian Orthodox Church (c/o Box 96, Endeavour, SK S0A 0W0) as gifts of remembrance.

Norman is the tenth child of Mary and George Harris.  He was born in the family farmhouse a few miles north of Endeavour.  He attended Cheremosz school from Grades 1-8. He completed Grade 9 at Lilian School in Endeavour and Grades 10–12 at Sturgis Composite High School, in Sturgis. For the record, Norman’s baptismal name is Nazary Levrenty.

Upon completing high school, Norman was determined to become a successful farmer.  To expand his knowledge of farming he found employment at a farm near Sperling, MB and later at a farm near Mervin, SK.  He also graduated from the University of Saskatchewan two-year School of Agricultural program.

Norman’s challenges were many, the family’s land base was far from ideal; three quarter sections of stoney and mostly uncultivated land with no reliable supply of quality water.  At some point, he and his brother Aaron decided that he would concentrate on raising beef cattle while Aaron would focus primarily on raising grain.

Norman’s initial challenges were to increase the herd size and quality.  There was also the need to construct adequate fences and to increase the size of the pasture.  Over time, this was addressed by renting Tony’s quarter section (NW27), buying cousin George Harris’s (SW27) and buying the east halves of SE28 and SE21.  As for the water supply, two dugouts were excavated, one on quarter NW22 and another on SW22.  The herd was expanded to where there were around 40 cows freshening each year which meant that over 100 head had to be fed, tended to medically and wintered.  Concurrently with raising cattle, he took the lead on clearing what cultivable land there still was.  As a result, most of quarter SW22 was broken and significant acreage has been added to quarter NW22.

In addition to farming, Norman was active in the All Saints Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Endeavour serving many years as the parish President.

Another of Norman’s major contribution to the local community was his knowledge of local history.  He contributed extensively to the contents of family histories as publish in the 1989 book, Past Endeavours, History of Bear, Beaver Bank—Endeavour—Usherville, Veterans as well as serving on the Endeavour History Committee,  He worked extensively with author Judith Silverthorne, who the family engaged, to write a book about Peter Rupchan a potter in the Usherville area who made pots for a living from the mid-1910s to 1944.  The title of the book is Made in Saskatchewan, Peter Rupchan, Ukrainian Pioneer and Potter.

A second book for which Norman is responsible is entitled A tribute to Mrs. Dary and Her Fellow Traditional Medicine Practitioners.  This is his documentation of Mrs. Dary’s medical practices over a period of 25 years.  These accounts have been compiled into a book by his brothers Ed and Tony.  As his mother grew older, more frail and unable to tend to her own needs, Norman became her primary care giver until she was admitted to the Canora long term care facility.  Similarly, he became Aaron’s primary care giver when his brother’s health began to fail.  Likely as a result of his treatment for cancer, Norman suffered from severe memory loss and became a resident of the Preeceville LTC facility.

Norman predeceased by parents, George and Mary; sisters, Vicky Anderson, Lee Schulz, Anne Lesack; brothers, Aaron, and Andrew. He is survived by sister, Elsie Clifford; brothers, Edward, Tony and William and numerous nieces and nephews.