MARLBOROUGH- Joel H. (Joe) Harris, 76, of Marlborough and formerly of Wayland, died July 23rd after a 20 year struggle with Alzheimer's disease. He was the husband of Ellie (Shorey) Harris of Marlborough for the past 49 years. He leaves a daughter Jennifer H. Durant and her husband Todd, of Woodstock, New Hampshire, two sons, Joel S. Harris and his wife, Natalie of Cumberland, Maine and James W. Harris and his wife Kerry of Franklin, Massachusetts. Also surviving are a brother George B. Harris, III of San Diego, CA; two sisters, Judith H. Reed of Chittendon, VT and Marilyn H. Brown of Harwich; five grandchildren: Morgan, Phoebe and Madeline Harris, Hannah Sweeney Harris, Callan Sweeney Harris and many nephews and nieces. Joe was born in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, the son of the late George B. and Madeline H. (Hodsdon) Harris, Jr. and moved to Manchester, NH in 1944. He was a graduate of Manchester Central High School and Kimball Union Academy in Claremont, NH. In 1953, he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Hampshire where he was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity. He was a design engineer for 35 years at GTE Sylvania in Waltham, Westborough, Needham and Billerica retiring in 1987 due to the onset of his illness. In 1958 he moved to Wayland, where he and Ellie raised their family in a cherished old home on Bow Road. He was a devoted family man who enjoyed skiing, fishing and inventing. He will be remembered as a unique and creative individual who made a priority of enjoying the outdoors with his family and friends, particularly in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, and China Lake, Maine. A U.S. Army veteran, Joe specialized in radar instruction during the Korean conflict. Since January of 1999, he was in residence at the GRECC dementia unit at the Edith Nourse Rogers Veterans Hospital in Bedford, Mass. The kind and compassionate care Joel received there has been a great source of comfort to the Harris family. A memorial service will be held Saturday September 22, 2007 at 11:30 a.m. in the Sudbury United Methodist Church, 251 Old Sudbury Road, Sudbury. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Joe's name to: Voluntary Services at ENRMH, Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Hospital, 200 Springs Road, Bedford, MA 01730 or College of Engineering and Physical Sciences/UNH, University of New Hampshire, 9 Edgewood Rd., Durham, NH 03824. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Fitzgerald & Collins Funeral Home, (www.SFCFH.com), 378 Lincoln Street, Marlborough.