ROBERT GREGG HARRIS

Robert Gregg Harris, known to all as Gregg, was born in Irwin, Pennsylvania on December 20, 1948 to Ruth Gregg Harris and Louis Hammond Harris. He and his younger brother Randy grew up in rural Pennsylvania, spending their days outdoors and surrounded by a large extended family. Gregg cherished memories of the family-owned hunting lodge at Deer Trail, where he enjoyed his grandmother’s baking, helped in her gift shop, and learned her distinctive method for dispatching snakes with a hoe. He loved riding horses and bicycles, collecting coins and stamps, and playing basketball with Randy, though he readily admitted his brother was the superior athlete.

After earning a BA in Math and Chemistry from Mansfield State College in 1970, Gregg taught eighth-grade math briefly before pursuing a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the Medical College of Virginia, which he completed in 1975. He then moved to Austin, Texas for a postdoctoral fellowship at the Drug Dynamics Institute at the University of Texas. In the spring of 1977, while working in his laboratory, he had a brief encounter with a young woman named Kay. Their paths crossed again in August 1978 when both began working in the chemistry labs at Alcon Laboratories. Three months later they married, and over the next six years they welcomed three sons: Nathan, Neil, and Brendon. Their home was lively and full of love. Gregg involved his boys in yard work and home projects, enrolled them in tennis camps, taught them chess and pool, and created a math formula to calculate their allowance. He coached his sons’ soccer team, the Dinosaurs, served as a Dorm Dad for the Winter Park Disabled Ski Team, and enthusiastically participated in scouting activities, particularly the Cub Scouts’ Pinewood Derby, where he researched every legal advantage to help his sons compete.

Gregg began his career at Alcon in September 1977 in Research and Development. He contributed to the development of numerous pharmaceutical and vision care products and was named an inventor on six patents. In 1988 he moved into an international role in Quality Assurance, traveling to 22 countries, transferring technology to manufacturing plants, and conducting supplier audits. He earned “5 million miler” status and took great satisfaction in the technical challenges of his work, but his deepest joy came from collaborating with talented colleagues and forming lifelong friendships. He retired from Alcon in December 2015.

Robert Gregg Harris died peacefully at home on March 5, 2026, surrounded by loved ones, after a long and courageous battle with frontotemporal dementia. Diagnosed in 2018, he faced the disease with characteristic strength and dignity, never complaining, and remained focused on maintaining his abilities for as long as possible. Throughout his illness he continued to show kindness and gratitude to his caregivers, hospice workers, friends, and family. He was deeply loved and will be profoundly missed by his wife Kay; son Nathan and daughter-in-law Julia; son Brendon and daughter-in-law Sasha; granddaughters Allison Kay and Vera Vivienne; brother Randy and wife Bridget; brother-in-law Bill and wife Susan; and many nieces, nephews, relatives, friends, and caregivers. He was preceded in death by his parents and his son Arden Neil.