[6] He had one brother, Wilbur Rothchild "Wil" Harris Jr. (November 1, 1932 – January 7, 2020), who served as a U.S. Army Honor Guard at Arlington National Cemetery's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Harris's grandfather was Reverend Henry Estis (January 5, 1863 – May 20, 1948), a formerly enslaved black American from Lunenburg County, Virginia, and founder and pastor of Zion Baptist Church in Chillicothe, Ohio.
[5][6] After struggling with race-based housing discrimination during his assignments, Harris left the military on December 1, 1964, to better support his wife and two children.
[4][6] Before entering civilian life, Harris interviewed with several major U.S. commercial airlines for a pilot's job without success, largely denied a position on racial grounds.
The chief pilot conducting the interview responded: "This is American Airlines and we don't care if you're black, white or chartreuse, we only want to know, can you fly the plane?
[8] Exiting his cockpit, Harris introduced himself to Young, and thanked him for helping African Americans get jobs in various fields, including aviation.
Margaret wanted the American Airlines pilot in question to fly her husband's remains back to the United States.
[1][12] Harris served as the president of the Organization of Black Airline Pilots (OBAP), and also retained his membership with the Negro Airmen International (NAI).