Hugh S. Harris Jr. – Mississippi’s premier community newspaper

November 5, 1934 – January 25, 2024

NATCHEZ – Dr. Hugh Smith Harris Jr. passed away peacefully at his home surrounded by his family on January 25, 2024 in Natchez, Mississippi. He passed away at the age of 89.

The son of Hugh Smith Harris Sr. and Lila Mae Williams Harris, Hugh was born on November 5, 1934. Raised in rural Mississippi, he lived an expansive life marked by his excellence, accomplishments, and service to his community and country.

Hugh graduated as valedictorian of his high school class and went on to attend the University of Mississippi and Harvard Medical School. In 1956, Hugh married his high school sweetheart Catherine (“Kitty”) Sir Kildson, and together they embarked on a decades-long journey across continents. After a surgical internship and residency at Barnes Hospital/Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, he served on active duty as a medical officer and flight surgeon at Hahn Air Force Base, Germany, and Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico from 1959 to 1963. Served. He continued his 30 years of military service in the Missouri Air National Guard, rising to the rank of brigadier general by the time he retired in 1992. Hugh was a pillar of the medical community in Columbia, Missouri, where he practiced as a general surgeon and physician for 36 years. He is a surgical oncologist at Ellis Fischel State Cancer Hospital and Columbia Surgical Associates, and practices at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. Hugh was one of the many physicians who founded Columbia Regional Hospital in 1974. When he retired from medicine in 2003, he returned to his childhood home outside Natchez, Mississippi. He was an avid reader and pilot and enjoyed traveling, skiing, and exploring the mountains near Crested Butte, Colorado.

Hugh was predeceased by his wife Kitty in 2020.

He has children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. son David Harris and his wife Monica Harris, and their children Madeline (mother of Ransom and Sterling), David, and Allie. his daughter Susan Harris and her husband Jeremy Myers and their children Benjamin and Elizabeth; son Michael Harris and his wife Karen Buck and daughter Corinna;

A celebration of life is tentatively planned for June 2024 at Natchez National Cemetery. Donations in Hugh’s memory may be made to the Harris Breast Center through the Center for the Arts in Crested Butte, Colorado, Westminster Presbyterian Church in Natchez, Michigan, or the Boone Hospital Foundation in Columbia, Missouri.