Don Thomas Harris, age 77, of Rapid City passed away on February 21, 2025 while under the hospice care of doctors, nurses and chaplains at Monument Health Hospital, Rapid City. He had fought cancer for years, with times of remission and active cancer. A final spread of the illness took his life.

Don was born on June 26, 1947 in San Angelo, TX to William Thomas Harris III and Mary Frances Harris, their first born of five. With his father in the US Air Force, he grew up on air bases across the globe. Don graduated from high school in 1965 from Kubasaki High School, on the island of Okinawa. He served in the US Army during Viet Nam but was stationed in Germany. Upon completion of his military service, Don attended Northern State University in Aberdeen, SD and earned a BS degree. He then secured a master’s degree from Florida State University. Skilled in the field of stage and theater, Don worked with stage design and construction for productions like the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus and the Miss America Pageant. For years he taught stage arts at Memphis State University. Mastery in creativity and art marked everything he did in his work and private life.

Don married Peggy Lee Hill on September 1, 2001. She preceded Don in death on June 23, 2024. He is survived by his 103 year-old mother, Mary Frances Harris of Rapid City, his sister, Carol Briggs of Waxhaw, NC, and three brothers, Jay Harris (Debbie) of Arlington, TX, Jeff Harris (Fran) of Fairborn, OH and Paul Harris (Kim) of Piedmont, SD.

Many in Rapid City remember Don as the thin man with a long white beard with his black Labrador Retriever, Katy, enjoying the dog park at Braeburn Park in Rapid City.

Interment will be in the Black Hills National Cemetery.

The Harris family wants to thank the amazing people of the Veteran’s Administration, Monument Health, Behrens Wilson Funeral Home and numerous family members and friends for their care through these trying days.