Christopher Harris

He was devoted to his wife of 67 years, the former Barbara Rettig, and his 10 children, 21 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

He lived a full life and was happiest being around people. He was known as someone who always had a funny story to share — and all of them were true.

Having come to the U.S. at age 2 and raised in Long Island, N.Y., Harris was a three-year starter at UD, known as a defensive specialist. He was part of a core group of players in the early 1950s that put Dayton basketball on the map, compiling 94 wins over four years and twice finishing as runner-up in the NIT.

He later became the voice of the Flyers, doing play-by-play on radio broadcasts for eight years.

After one year in the NBA, split between the Rochester Royals and St. Louis Hawks, he left basketball to start his own business in Dayton He opened a record store in Eastown Shopping Center and turned that into Chris Harris TV and appliances, eventually expanding to three locations in the area.

He joined an insurance company in 1981 and lived in Clearwater, Fla., for 35 years before returning to Dayton in 2019.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Edward and Gwendolyn Harris, his brother Ted, sons Chris and Jon and his granddaughter, Kelley (Kuntz) McDonald. Barbara currently resides at Walnut Creek in Kettering.

Visitation will be 5-8 p.m. Wednesday at Tobias Funeral Home, 5471 Far Hills Ave., and a funeral Mass will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday at St. Charles Church, 4500 Ackerman Blvd. The service will be livestreamed for those who cannot attend at www.stcharles-kettering.org

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the University of Dayton Champions & Scholars Fund, which can be found at DaytonFlyers.com.