David Arthur Harrison

SPRING HILL, Fla. – David Arthur Harrison, known to most as “Dave or “Harry”, passed away on April 27, 2026, in Spring Hill, Fla.

Born on Dec. 10, 1949, in Westbrook, Maine, he was 76 years old. He attended Westbrook schools graduating in 1969, and proudly served in the United States Marine Corps. To know Dave was to know someone who could walk into any room and leave it better than he found it.

A longtime sales manager in the steel industry, Dave built a career on the same qualities that defined his life, reliability, straight talk, and genuine care for the people around him. He was the kind of man you called when you didn’t know what to do and he always seemed to know. Whether he was helping you work through a problem or stand up to give a toast at a wedding, he had a gift for finding exactly the right words, including, when necessary, the ones you didn’t want to hear.

Dave loved to be outdoors and in motion. He was equally at home on a ski slope, a golf course, or a tennis court, and his passion for motorcycles was well known. A serious cribbage player, he could hold his own at any card table. And somehow, no matter where he went — a ski mountain, Disney World, or a stretch of back road — he’d run into someone he knew. It wasn’t a coincidence; it was just Dave.

He had a way of seeing people that others walked past. He’d stop and talk with someone who was struggling, pull over without a second thought, and slip a few dollars into a hand that needed it. They say to look for the helpers in this world, Dave was one of them, quietly and consistently, without fanfare.

He found his greatest joy in being a father to Jess, and a devoted parent to his chosen daughters, Alexis and Marika. As “Papa” to Ronin, Sierra, Charlotte, and Otis, he delighted in every moment spent with them. Whether he was directing and choreographing spirited home movies to send to New Kids on the Block, coaching basketball, patiently tidying up after the grandkids’ adventures in his new car, or lovingly caring for pets alike, he approached each moment with boundless patience, warmth, and humor.

These qualities reflected a favorite quotation he kept in his home by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

“What is success? To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate the beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch Or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!”

He succeeded and we were better for being part of his successes.

He was predeceased by his beloved wife of 46 years, Marie (MacLeod) Harrison; his parents, Eleanor (Woodis) Harrison and Arthur Stanley Harrison; and his brother, Danny Lee Harrison.

He is survived by his daughter, Jessica; his sisters Dianne (Harrison) Charest and Kimberly (Harrison) Pierce; his nieces and nephews Greg, Chris, Andy, Richard, Sarah; his brother and sister-in-law, Richard and Kathy Macleod; his surrogate families, Alexis Flink, Ronin and Sierra Westin, Marika, Charlotte and Otis; his AA family and coffee families at CIA, Panera’s in Spring Hill, Fla.; and many countless friends whose lives are richer for having known him.

Dave Harrison was a rock for many. He will be deeply missed.

A celebration of life will be held on Thursday, June 11 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at: Stewart Morrill American Legion, 413 Broadway, South Portland ME 04106.