Former Greenville Parks and Recreation Director Jerome Harris was recently honored by the Alabama Parks and Recreation Association with a lifetime membership in the organization.

Members of Harris’ staff at the GPRD requested that the APRA recognize him for his longtime service to Greenville and the children of the community earlier this year.

The honor came at the recent APRA District 6 meeting in Eufala.

It was presented to Harris by Dothan Leisure Services Director Elston Jones, a native of Greenville.

Harris retired from the Greenville Parks and Recreation Department in 2014 after nearly 40 years in recreation.

“It was my life,” Harris said, “and something I thoroughly enjoyed.  I love working with children and it’s something I will always look back on with good memories.”

Harris said he was touched to be recognized by his peers in District 6, who he had worked with closely in nearly two decades as the director of the GPRD.

“This means so much to me,” he said.

“To be recognized in this way is something I appreciate and will always remember.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Harris began his career at Dunbar Community Center where he rose to the position of director of that facility and assistant director of the GPRD.  In 1995 he succeeded Rick Nance as director of the Greenville Parks and Recreation Department.

In March, the City of Greenville honored Harris for his years of service to the community by naming the baseball and softball fields off School Highlands Road the “Jerome Harris Fields at Dunbar Park.”