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2017 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 626
Commending Richard W. Harris, Sr.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, January 20, 2017
Agreed to by the Senate, January 26, 2017

 

WHEREAS, Richard W. Harris, Sr., a dedicated volunteer firefighter and the former Mayor of Kenbridge, is the longest-serving fire chief in the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, Richard “Dicky” W. Harris, Sr., joined the Kenbridge Fire Department, an all-volunteer department in Lunenburg County, on September 22, 1964; and

WHEREAS, serving as chief from 1969 to 1999 and 2001 to the present, Dicky Harris ably led the members of the department as they responded to countless calls for service and safeguarded the lives and property of local residents; and

WHEREAS, as a two-term president of the Virginia State Firefighters Association and a member of the association’s finance and legislative committees, Dicky Harris worked to ensure that needs of volunteer fire departments throughout the Commonwealth were understood and met; and

WHEREAS, Dicky Harris also served as the longtime secretary of the Southside Virginia Volunteer Firefighters Association and chair of the Virginia Fire Services Board, and he has been instrumental in training and mentoring a new generation of firefighters and first responders; and

WHEREAS, desirous to be of further service to his fellow residents, Dicky Harris ran for and was elected to the Kenbridge Town Council and served from 1980 to 1990 as a councilman and from 1990 to 2014 as mayor; and

WHEREAS, Dicky Harris has earned numerous awards and accolades for his professionalism and leadership, including the Award for Excellence in Virginia’s Fire Management in 2012, and he is an exemplar of the courage and dedication demonstrated by public safety officers throughout the Commonwealth; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Richard W. Harris, Sr., the longest-serving fire chief in the Commonwealth for his exceptional service to the residents of Kenbridge; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Richard W. Harris, Sr., as an expression of the General Assembly’s admiration for his achievements and service.