Leslie Lee ‘Skip’ Harrell, 89, rural Douglas County, died Friday, August 23, 2019, at his home, surrounded by his loving family.
Leslie was born January 12, 1930, in Clinton, Kan., the son of Russell and Ada Goff Harrell. He attended Barber Elementary School and Liberty Memorial High School. In Lawrence. He entered the United States Air Force in 1951 and served three years stationed in England. In March of 1954, he was awarded the Soldier Medal for Valor. After returning from the service he began a farm operation in the Clinton and Lone Star area. Skip spent his entire life in Douglas County. He retired in 1995 and enjoyed helping his son Mike with farming, fishing at Clinton Lake and hunting. He and Helen spent many years wintering in the Valley of Texas. He was a lifetime member of the Baldwin City Lloyd Beaton Post 229 of the American Legion, and a member of Worden United Methodist Church.
Skip married Helen E. Herschell on February 24, 1956. They shared 63 years together. She survives of the home. Other survivors include his son, Mike Harrell and Donna, Lawrence; his daughter, Twilla Brown and husband David, Baldwin City; a foster daughter, Cathy Crawford and husband Richard, Great Falls, Montana; seven grandchildren, Megan Thompson, John Brown, Leslie Dlugosh, Joey Suitt, Brad Harrell, Max Harrell, and Ryan Guinn; and eleven great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Cheryl Lee Suitt, his parents, three brothers, Vernon, Leo, and Alvin Harrell, and four sisters, Alma Houk, Roberta Medley, Evelyn Lasley, and Irene Steele.
A private memorial service with military honors will be held at a later date at Clinton Cemetery. The family suggests memorial contributions to the Clinton Cemetery, for repairs and cleaning of the stones, or Douglas County Visiting Nurses, in care of Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home, 601 Indiana St., Lawrence, KS, 66044.
