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BACK HOME AGAiN
ville. “There were people who were the great honors of my life,” says har-

After he returned home in November not happy with us sitting in,” he says. vey. In 2013, as a capstone, Knoxville
1945, the fog of war clung to him. “It “They called us names. I had been a College named its alumni hall of fame

was very hard to sleep for a long time,” football player, very physical, weighed for harvey.
he says. “War is an inhuman activity as a little over 200 pounds. So I wasn’t
“GO AS FAR AS YOU CAN”
far as I’m concerned. It dehumanizes subject to many physical threats.”
you. our business was killing people.”
harvey has been deeply involved not Through the years, harvey has not

Making matters worse, he learned only in education but in other aspects
spoken much about WWII until re-
that a sister had died and his father’s of civic life. he has served on multiple cently. Randall Baxter interviewed him

house had burned (along with many boards; consulted for the u.S. Depart- at length for the 2013 book The Veteran
war mementos he had shipped home). ment of Education, the louisiana State Next Door: Stories from World War II.

“That was pretty devastating, too.”
Department of Education, and the Texas The war is “not something that you
Drawing on faith and fortitude, higher Education Commission; volun- relish talking about,” says harvey,

harvey returned to the pursuit of his teered with the Knoxville Symphony, “and yet it was a blessing because I got
education. he reentered Knoxville the Joy of Music School, and in Kiwanis all of my education paid for through

College to complete his undergraduate (including serving as Kentucky/Ten- the g.I. Bill.”
work, then earned his master’s from nessee lieutenant governor); and been harvey does relish spending time

the university of Rochester and his active in his church, devoting five years with Edwina, as the harveys approach
doctorate from the Teacher’s College at to the general Assembly Council for the their 70th anniversary on June 4.

Columbia university.
Presbyterian Church, uSA, and serving They’ve reared three children: daugh-
he moved back to East Tennessee
as an elder and a past moderator of the ter Sharon, who works as an investiga-

in 1951 and began teaching math at East Tennessee Presbytery.
tor for the state of florida; son Robert
Knoxville College—where he thrived What’s more, he has received Dis- Brian, who recently retired as deputy

not only as a professor, but also as
tinguished Service Awards from the controller for Bethesda Naval hospi-
an administrator, serving as dean of City of Knoxville and from Knoxville tal (and is moving with his family to

academics and interim president of
College, the Meritorious Service Award Powell); and daughter Denise, who was
the historically black college three and the lifetime Achievement Award part of the uT-Knoxville faculty until

times (1966-67, 1975-76, 2005-10) and from the National Science foundation, her passing in 2011. Dr. harvey and
as Acting President twice (1976 and Kiwanis International’s hixon fellow his wife have two grandsons and two

1977). During those years, he also spent award, and a uT-Knoxville Chancel- great-granddaughters.
three stints with the National Science lor’s Special Award.
What is his secret to marital longev-

foundation in Washington, D.C.
In 2012, u.S. Representative John ity? “You have to work hard at it,” he
In the 1960s, harvey took part in Duncan, Jr., entered harvey’s life in the says. “learn to say ‘yes’ to your wife a

Civil Rights sit-ins in downtown Knox-
Congressional Record. “That’s one of
lot. Work hard on pleasing each other.”
To younger people, he offers: “Take

full advantage of the opportunities
available to you. focus on the things
Dr. Harvey, age 91, still keeps
that matter most. go as far in education
score for the cerebral Palsy as you can.”
center every other week at
As for his own focus, he says, “I try
the Strike & Spare. He has to stay active”— which brings us back
volunteered for the center for
to fountain lanes. “These folks inspire
many years.
me,” he says of his friends from the CP

Center. “They are the most apprecia-
tive people I’ve been around.”

The feeling is more than mutual. “Dr.
harvey is dedicated,” says center leader

Mike Weaver. “Rain, sleet, sun, or snow,
he’s gonna be here. he means a lot to

the program and to the community.”

Phil Newman is a Farragut High School and
University of Tennessee graduate who now

makes his home in Franklin, Tennessee.

70 cityviewmag.com
may june 2014