Jonathan Harrison

John Michael Harrison, an effusively cheerful man with a goofy streak who also loved to pray and read his Bible, died on Feb. 16, 2025 in Cleveland, Okla. He was 78 years old, and a proud member of the Osage Nation.
Harrison was born Dec. 26, 1946, in Pawhuska, the third son of Ben and Wilma (Walkabout) Harrison. He played football for Pawhuska High School, and after graduating entered the U.S. Marine Corps - which dispatched him to the war in Vietnam. His nature was ornery and the Marines were unyielding in their discipline, but he made it through four years. "He was a discipline problem," chuckled his older child and son Jonathan Harrison. "He couldn't deal with authority."After his service, Mr. Harrison moved to Tulsa, a city he loved dearly, where he became a carpenter and handyman, working on some fine houses, his daughter Samantha Harrison said: "He really enjoyed fixing things."He also had hardships that he overcame. He had a drinking problem as a young man, but later shook that addiction and became a drug and alcohol counselor, including to a lawyer who remained grateful to him throughout the rest of Harrison's life.Despite his difficulties, Harrison stayed happy and tried to cheer those around him."My dad was a self-proclaimed goofball," said Samantha Harrison. "He would always imitate Goofy and Daffy Duck. He loved to laugh and to make other people laugh. He was outgoing, charismatic. And he loved a good time."Sometimes, good times turned bad, like the time he decided he was going to become a car salesman, borrowed a car from the lot, and headed off to a Leon Russell concert in Tulsa. That somehow devolved into a chase with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, then he skedaddled to Dallas to avoid prosecution. But luck was on his side. After years in Texas, his lawyer friend discovered that Harrison had somehow slipped through law-enforcement cracks. With no warrant outstanding for his arrest, Harrison came home to Tulsa. "He was a really lucky guy," his son said. "There were a lot of things like that that happened to him."He always spoke what was on his mind. He didn't have a filter."Like his older brother Henry Ben Harrison, Harrison always had a soft spot for those who were less fortunate than he: He devoted more than a decade of his life serving at the soup kitchen at St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Tulsa, feeding the homeless.Harrison had three children: Jonathan, the oldest, with his first wife, Esther Rice, and two daughters, Mikel and Samantha, with his second wife, Cheryl Pendergrass. His children survive him. Both of his marriages ended in divorce. He is also survived by his young brother, David Harrison of Albuquerque. He was predeceased by his other two brothers, Rick and Henry Ben.A memorial service will be held at 9 a.m., Friday, March 21, 2025 at Wakon Iron Hall in the Pawhuska Indian Village, with breakfast to follow.Chapman-Black Funeral Home in Hominy in in charge of arrangements,