Feb 1, 2005 2 min read

Ernest “E” M. Harris, 66, of California, Pa., passed away Friday, Jan. 28, 2005, in Brownsville, General Hospital. He was born in Brownsville, Pa., on April 28, 1938, a son of the late Charles Waters and Frances Harris Fleming.

He attended Brownsville Area High School. As a young adult, he entered the Air Force on Aug. 2, 1955, where he serviced as an airman in Japan, Thailand, Spain and Turkey. He was honorably discharged on July 9, 1956, and went to live with his beloved Aunt Helen Culp Williams in Bridgewater, N.J.

At this point in his life, he began to compose and perform his own music. In 1958, he recorded a regionally played son “If I”. He later became one of the founding members of the Parliaments Funkadelic, co-writing their first national hit, “I Just want to Testify” in New York, with internationally known writer and producer, George Clinton. He and George also owned a popular barber shop and hair styling establishment, “Mr. Mirror”, in Plainsfield, N.J.

As a kid, he loved to fish, hunt and shoot with childhood friends Billy “Blackjack” Wheeler and Bo Smith. You could often find them sailing homemade boats on the Monongahela River. As a young adult, he became an artist and avid gun collector. In the early 1960’s, his passion was customizing old cares and he worked for Doris Duke on her estate in Somerville, N.J.

He returned to Pennsylvania, in the mid-70’s and attended California University of Pennsylvania. He was a member of Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church of Brownsville, Pa.

He was preceded in death by two aunts and an uncle, Helen-Culp Williams, Doretha Culp-Morrison and Nelson Harris. He leaves to cherish his memory four daughters, Shelley James of Baltimore, Md., Darlene Brown Robbins of Richmond, Calif., Marlene Brown Jackson of Masontown, Pa., and Jenny Brown of Masontown, Pa.; a son, Darrell Brown of Baltimore, Md.; a sister, Katie Fleming-Sessegnon of Philadelphia, Pa.; a nephew, Emmanuel Bahie Sessegnon; and an Aunt, Daisy Mae Simmons of Valdosta, Ga.

He will also be dearly missed by special longtime friends who loved and cared for him in his final years. Louis and Betty Ann and their children, Marcie, Angel and Lou, along with grandson, Lucchi Constantino III.

A private memorial service will be held at the convenience of the family.