Uncrowned Community Builders

Paul H. Harrison, a native of Gainesville, Georgia, moved to Buffalo in 1957. He was a graduate of East High School. He was employed in general trucking for 30 years before retiring in 2008. Mr. Harrison owned his own company, Buffalo Downtown Dump. He was a primary minority contractor in the building of the rapid transit systems. He was also the owner of H & BH Trucking.

A single parent, he was particularly proud of receiving Father of the Year awards on two separate occasions, in 1995 from Buffalo Vets Little League Football and in 1999 from his church, St. John Baptist Church.

After he retired, Mr. Harrison was very involved in both his East side community and his church. He was remembered as the man to get the job done, whether he was snowplowing the side streets or helping out if something just needed to be done.

At St. John Baptist Church, he served as a trustee, usher, transportation coordinator and sang in the male chorus. He was also maintenance supervisor for the St. John Towers, the church's senior citizen complex. He also was involved with the Project Gift program, one of the church's after school program for children with disabilities. Known as Uncle Paul to the children in his church, he always made sure they had change in their pockets.

Mr. Harrison had four sons, Ricky Harrison, Marvin Galimore, Rickey Bryant and Paul Jr. and two daughters, Yvette Harrison and Marie Thompson.