Anthony John Harrison, “Tony” to friends and family, Son to Jack and Peggy Harrison, born November 20, 1944 at Barnsley, Yorkshire, died March 18, 2025 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina surrounded by his family.
Tony is survived by his Brother, David Harrison of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, his Sons, Alexander John Harrison of Dexter, Michigan and Benjamin Joseph Harrison of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Daughter Jennifer Mary Harrison of Guelph, Ontario, Grandson Austin Harrison and Great Granddaughter Amelia Harrison.
Tony leaves behind his former Wife and Mother to his children Mary Walkem Harrison of Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, and his longtime partner Linda Gerrits of Westlake Village, California.
Tony spent his formative years in Derbyshire where he attended The Long Eaton School. In this setting long childhood days spent with his Brother David spotting trains would transition into long teenage nights playing guitar in his band, The Countdowns, at local pubs and venues. Tony’s formal education culminated in attaining a degree in electrical engineering, but he would come to learn much more through his life than could be taught in a classroom.
As a ships electrical engineer in the Merchant Navy, Tony traveled the world with the Cunard line aboard the RMS Franconia and the RMS Queen Mary.It was in Bermuda where Tony met his first and only Wife, Mary Walkem Joseph, a nurse in training. Mary and Tony shared their first encounter aboard the Queen Mary and formed a lasting love, relationship and eventual marriage.
Tony and Mary Harrison settled in Toronto, Canada where he worked as an electrical engineer at Honeywell and she worked as a nurse at Toronto Centenary Hospital.Over the following decades the Harrison family experienced the births of their three children, Alex in 1973, Jennifer in 1975 and Benjamin in 1983, as well as relocation to Markham, Ontario. Tony completed work on the C.N. Tower during this period, leaving his mark on the project professionally as well as personally, in form of his initials scrawled into the then-wet cement of the building’s foundations.
Having left Honeywell for Panasonic, In 1996 Tony and Mary decided to relocate to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, a longtime vacation destination for the family, to support Tony’s career working in the United States. This career move culminated in his work on Las Vegas casinos including the New York, New York and Luxor, where he worked and lived for a week at a time while returning at weekends to be with his family. This living situation eventually proved to be a strain on the family and In 2002, after raising their children through adulthood, Tony and Mary reconciled their differences and ended their marriage.
Tony relocated to Westlake Village, California and into the building systems commissioning industry. Tony started his commissioning business from scratch in California, and would go on to regularly service accounts including Amgen drug development facilities. It is during this time he met his longtime partner Dr. Linda Gerrits, and kicked off a relationship that would last some 20 years.
In 2016 Tony relocated back to Myrtle Beach, spending part time on the East Coast and several months a year in California. It was not until this period he would officially retire after working well into his seventies.
Tony spent his final years with his family in Myrtle Beach and great friends at his local beach-side bar The Salty Pickle. He enjoyed nothing more than sipping a Guiness and recounting tales of his travels while overlooking the ocean that brought him to these shores so long ago. These times truly represent the best of Tony’s life, a fact he recounted many times.
More details of Tony’s life are accounted for in his autobiographical memoir – “A salubrious Life”, available on Amazon.
A memorial service will be held at Burrough’s Funeral Home in Murrells Inlet, SC on Saturday, April 12th at 1PM EST. Click here for directions. A live stream of the memorial will be available on YouTube and linked here when active..
A wake at The Salty Pickle will immediately follow the memorial service. Click here for directions.
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