Obituary: Harold Harper Jr.

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Harold Harper Jr., 80, Stonefort, died peacefully on Saturday, July 2, 2011, at his home.

Junior, as he was known, was born on Sept. 7, 1930, in Bloomfield to the late Harold Sr. and Edith Rushing Harper. He married the former Mary Lou Glass on May 27, 1950.

Junior was the retired owner of Harper Produce and owner and operator of the Red Barn Market in Stonefort. He was a member of the Stonefort Missionary Baptist Church. He loved to garden and take care of his pet squirrels.

Junior is survived by his wife, Mary Lou; a daughter, Maritta (Brad) Pavelonis of Harrisburg; three grandsons, John Pavelonis of Cape Girardeau, Mo., Mark Harper of Harrisburg and Michael Harper of Harrisburg; and a sister, Dorothy (Edward) Russell of Creal Springs.

He was preceded in death by his parents; and his son, Mark Timothy Harper.

Funeral services were held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, July 5, 2011, in the Absher-Nicholson Funeral Home in Carrier Mills, where friends called from 10 a.m. to the funeral hour. The Rev. Keith Bunfill officiated and burial was in Reynoldsburg Cemetery.