Bethel Park man remembered for long career of community service
For Don Harrison’s final election campaign, he tried a new idea (for him): yard signs.
Harrison served as a councilman representing Bethel Park’s 5th ward for 48 years until his last term concluded at the end of 2021 after losing his bid for reelection. When it came to campaigning, those who knew him recall Harrison taking a personal approach to politics.
“He won a few of the campaigns by write-in if he didn’t win the primary. He would go door-to-door,” said Paul Pitocco, a Bethel Park resident and close friend of Harrison’s. “It wasn’t until his very last election that he actually purchased political signs, because he couldn’t go door-to-door anymore. He did it the old-fashioned way, shaking hands, talking to the people who supported him and the people who didn’t support him.”
Harrison died on Dec. 8 at the age of 94.
Pitocco moved into Bethel Park about 35 years ago and remembers being impressed by how Harrison conducted himself at council meetings.
“He’d do debates. He’d win some, and lose some. I got to know him better and we developed a friendship … If there was an issue, he would call me up, and I’d give him my thoughts. Sometimes we disagreed. I liked the way he handled that. There were no emotions involved,” Pitocco said.
Harrison was born on Jan. 4, 1928, in Jeffersonville, Ind. He would eventually serve in the Army and met his wife, Larissa, while stationed at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. Don and Larissa adopted a pair of siblings, Donna and Greg. Both Larissa and Greg preceded Don in death.
“He was a great father. We had a great upbringing,” said Donna Hamer, of Huntington, W.Va. “He worked Monday through Friday. He came home at literally 5 o’clock and we were eating dinner because he always had to go to a meeting.”
What exactly their father may have been doing at work, however, was a bit of mystery.
Harrison was a nuclear physicist and worked for the government at the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory in West Mifflin. There, he helped design and develop nuclear power for the U.S. Navy.
Pitocco said Harrison never mentioned the nature of his work until later in his life. While his family knew his title and where he worked, Harrison divulged no details about what he did on the clock.
“It was all top secret. We always teased that he was just sitting there doing crossword puzzles because he never talked about work, but I guess wasn’t really allowed to,” Hamer said.
While his mind was still sharp during his last run for council, Hamer said his mobility was what necessitated her father to invest in yard signs for the first time.
Before the final campaign, Hamer said she had attempted to convince her father to move to Huntington. Harrison had even put a deposit down on an assisted living facility nearby her home, though Hamer thinks this was more an act of appeasement.
“He did not want to leave that house. Even when he decided to run again, it was important to him to stay in the 5th Ward of Bethel Park,” Hamer said. “We tried, and I stopped trying. I thought, he just wants to stay in his home. I have to respect that.”
Along with Hamer, Harrison is survived by three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren (with a sixth on the way). A graveside service is planned for 10 a.m. Dec. 27 at Woodmere Cemetery in Huntington.
Hamer said that her father could be stubborn, but above all was dedicated to his community, honest and hardworking.
“I’m a little biased, but he was an amazing person,” Hamer said.