Calvin "Jack" Harmon

Calvin “Jack” Harmon, 96, of Saint Marys, died 9:40 P.M. Wednesday, September 20, 2023, at Joint Township District Memorial Hospital in Saint Marys.

He was born March 20, 1927, in Winchester, Kentucky, the son of Calvin and Mary (Clay) Harmon. 

He married Dora Wills on April 2, 1948, in Xenia, Ohio, and she preceded him in death on August 8, 1983.

He is survived by his children: Calvin Harmon; Crystal Harmon; Wesley Harmon; Angela Harmon, all of Saint Marys, and Clayton Harmon of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He is also survived by his 6 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Dora; his daughter, Peggy Harmon, and his two sons, Timothy and Benjamin Harmon.

Jack moved to the Dayton area in his youth. After high school he was called to service in the US Marine Corps in February, 1945, during WWII. He completed basic training at Paris Island, South Carolina, and advanced training at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. He was stationed at Terminal Island in California as an MP guarding the Naval Station. He was released from the military on a Dependency Discharge when his Dad was dying from Mesothelioma at the age of 40.

Jack was  the owner/operator of Harmon’s Landing. In 1947, he purchased the 13 acre property on Grand Lake Saint Marys from his relatives. He married Dora in 1948, and she assisted with the Landing operation until her passing. Harmon’s Landing offered cottage rentals, rowboat rentals, fishing gear and bait, and concessions to visitors. As time passed, several acres on the Landing were divided into lots and sold for permanent homes. 

Dad enjoyed seeing others enjoy themselves. The business was never profitable but he got great satisfaction from sharing it with others. He also enjoyed doing volunteer maintenance on the nearby park land and helping others with property maintenance. Other things he did was to build rope swings for summer swimming and performed ice maintenance for many hockey games and recreational skating. He was fond of watching others fish, use the park land and enjoy Grand Lake Saint Marys.

One of Jack’s proudest accomplishments was improving fishing conditions by finding good branches to create fixed fishing structures. He used a winter ice platform to build these brush piles with visible post construction so fisherman knew where they were. Over the course of 40 years, he built and maintained 46 brush piles. Other fishermen helped spread the practice around Grand Lake Saint Marys. These brush piles were accessible to bank, ice, boat and wading fishermen.

Jack was a pressworker at Goodyear Saint Marys for 36.5 years and a Union Steward for 25 of those years.

His favorite hobbies were riding his 3-wheeler on the lake and on Harmon’s Landing, fishing, and watching the OSU Buckeyes. He will be dearly missed by all who loved him.

Private family funeral rites will be held. Miller Funeral Home, 1605 Celina Road, Saint Marys, is entrusted with Jack’s funeral arrangements. Memorial contributions may be made to the Lake Improvement Association or Grand Lake Hospice, and memories and condolences may be sent to Jack’s family via Millerfuneralhomes.net