Attorney was key to CityPlace creation
Carlton Fields partner lost health during threeyear struggle after spinal surgery complications.
Lynda J. Harris, an attorney whose work led to the creation of CityPlace and the renaissance of downtown West Palm Beach, died Dec. 14. She was 68.
Harris died at Jupiter Medical Center, three years and two months after spinal surgery left her temporarily paralyzed. Through therapy, including time spent at the renowned Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Harris regained mobility. But Harris remained frail and never fully returned to work as a partner in the West Palm Beach office of Carlton Fields.
Both of her sons were with her in her final days, as she battled pneumonia and complications from her surgery. “But she said she was happy. She had her boys,” said her eldest son, Carl Harris.
“She was strong and calm and peaceful, and she gave me that peace and calmness,” he said. “S h e w a s n ’ t just a powerful woman, she was a powerful and amazing human being.”
On Monday, business leaders reflected on the tragedy of her final years.
“She’s had a terribly hard time,” said Thomas Hanson, managing shareholder of Carlton Field’s West Palm Beach office. He added that her injury and death “are a tremendous loss to the firm and her clients.”
One of those clients, CityPlace developer Ken Himmel, said she was “in a league of her own” and he grieved the loss of a “close family friend.”
“She “provided genuine counsel and friendship to my wife and children. ... Go in peace, Lyn. Your contributions here are a perma- nent part of this city, never to be forgotten,” he said in a statement.
In representing CityPlace development firm Related Cos., Harris worked closely with former West Palm Beach Mayor Nancy Graham, who made Harris chairwoman of the Downtown Development Authority before CityPlace tapped her as attorney, and with Graham’s top aide, attorney Robert Sanders.
Sanders, who was at her side for her surgery, last saw her about a month ago. Since the surgery, “she struggled and suffered greatly, in a sincere effort to recover and lead a pain-free life,” Sanders said. “Unfortunately, it just wasn’t meant to be.”
Born in Memphis, Tenn., Harris moved to West Palm Beach in 1969. She was a single mother, working as a secretary and attending college classes at night, completing law school at the University of Miami.
As i d e f r o m C i t y P l a c e , s h e worked on The Strand and One Watermark Place condo towers and the convention center Hil- ton Hotel. During the Jan. 28 hotel grand opening, Harris smiled and moved carefully through the lobby as she saw for herself the fruits of her work, a hotel deal that took 15 years.
In April 2015, Harris sued her neurosurgeon, Dr. Michael Chaparro, Palms West Hospital in Loxahatchee and four anesthesia professionals, alleging they botched her surgery. The lawsuit is pending.
Being unable to return to her career was a tremendous loss, Carl Harris said. “She could never be that person she was before this accident,” he said. “To take that away from someone, I can’t even fathom it.”
Celebration of Life services are set for 2 p.m. Dec. 30 at First Presbyterian Church of West Palm Beach. The family requests donations be made to Boys Town South Florida, Shepherd Center (Spinal Recovery) and First Presbyterian Church of West Palm Beach.