LR memorial set for David Pryor’s ex-aide, old friend

A memorial service to celebrate the life of the late Don Harrell, 80, of New York City will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Ron Robinson Theater in downtown Little Rock’s River Market District.

The memorial service is open to the public.

Harrell, chief of staff for U.S. Sen. David Pryor from 1981-92, died Dec. 18 in New York City. Harrell and Pryor grew up in Camden and were lifelong friends.

Harrell worked for Pryor in Little Rock from 197478 as press secretary and speechwriter during Pryor’s tenure as Arkansas’ governor. Later, Harrell spent 11 years in Washington, D.C., during Pryor’s three terms in the U.S. Senate. He left Pryor’s office in 1992, moving to New York City, where he worked for more than a decade as director of external affairs for TIAA, a higher-education retirement fund.

Harrell received his bachelor’s degree from Hendrix College in Conway. He later earned master’s degrees in international relations from American University and in English from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He earned his doctorate in English from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.

At the memorial service, film footage of Pryor and Harrell together at Harrell’s 1992 Senate staff farewell party will be shown publicly for the first time. Pryor, his wife Barbara, and a group of Harrell’s Arkansas friends are coordinating the service. Harrell’s widow, Chris, will be in attendance.

Several people who worked closely with Harrell when Pryor was a U.S. senator are scheduled to speak.

They include:

■ Skip Rutherford of Little Rock. He is dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock.

■ Tom Courtway of Conway. Courtway is a former president of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway and a former state legislator.

■ Steve Ronnel of Little Rock. Ronnel worked with Harrell in Pryor’s Washington office and later became a White House aide to Mack McLarty. McLarty was a chief of staff to former President Bill Clinton. Ronnel is now a businessman in Arkansas.

Others scheduled to deliver remarks are:

■ Former U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, who has known Harrell as a family friend for his entire life. David Pryor is Mark Pryor’s father.

■ Rex Nelson, a columnist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He was Washington, D.C., correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat when Harrell worked for Pryor in the nation’s capital.

The Ron Robinson Theater is at Library Square, at 100 River Market Ave. at the Main Library complex.