WWII vet, banker Harris dies at 93

Wayne Harris

For all of his life, Wayne Harris took care of other people, his friends say.

The World War II veteran, philanthropist and longtime banker died at the age of 93 on Friday in his North Little Rock home. Harris’ wife of 36 years, Cathy Muscalino Harris, said that if anyone could claim to have had a life well-lived, it would be her husband.

Wayne Harris, born Dec. 12, 1925, was raised in an orphanage after his parents died when he was 7 years old. He graduated from Little Rock High School before joining the U.S. Navy and fighting at Iwo Jima in World War II. He returned home and became a founding member of First American Bank in North Little Rock, one of only two banks in the city at that time.

Cathy Muscalino Harris said she met the man who would become her husband in the late 1970s. Both lived in the same apartment complex, she said, and though she’d seen him many times, she only met him when a friend tricked her into a double date.

“My girl friend and the guy she was dating said they were going to get ice cream,” Cathy Muscalino Harris said. “Unbeknownst to me, they also invited Wayne.”

She got pralines and cream ice cream — still her favorite — and Wayne spent the evening joking. He was kind and funny, she said, and asked her out on that very night.

“He had just this great sense of humor about him,” she said. “I remember that night he took me on the back of a motorcycle, and I thought, ‘This man is just something else.’”

Just a few years later, on June 26, 1982, the two were married at Marlsgate Plantation. Both loved to snow ski, she said, and friends lined up down the aisle with skis raised in the air for the couple to run through.

“He was just adored by so many people,” she said. “I cannot tell you the number of people that would come up to us and tell us he gave them their first loan. It was just incredible.”

One of those people is North Little Rock Mayor Joe Smith, who said Harris gave him his first loan after he graduated from college.

“There’s no doubt that Wayne has been giving back to North Little Rock for all of my adult life for sure. He was a fine banker.”

Together the couple traveled the world, Cathy Muscalino Harris said. They went on 18 cruises to different parts of the world, but they always returned home to North Little Rock.

One trip, she said, stood out among the rest.

In 2012, on the 67th anniversary of the battle, Harris was one of 25 veterans to return to Iwo Jima.

Cathy Muscalino Harris said her husband was the only veteran from his ship who was able to go, and seeing the place where he fought again after so many years meant a lot to him.

“It was just very moving,” she said. “It was a beautiful trip.”

In 2015, the National WWII Museum in New Orleans opened the Wayne Harris exhibit, which features his personal belongings from his time in the Navy.

On Saturday, Cathy Muscalino Harris was thinking of her wedding day. Before they were wed, Wayne had always been reluctant to say “I love you,” she said. He would reply, “Do, too,” she said, a phrase they had inscribed on their wedding rings.

“When the minister said, ‘I now pronounce you man and wife,’ he just turned to me and said, ‘I love you and I’m going to take care of you,’” she said. “He just announced it in front of everyone. And he did. He’s always taken care of me.”

In the past year, as Harris’ health began to decline, Cathy said she realized it was her turn.

“I thought, ‘It’s my turn to take care of him because he’s taken such good care of me,’” she said. “It’s been my honor to take care of him.

“He will be so missed, and not just by me, but I wouldn’t trade one second of it.”