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Major David Harmon, 64, was promoted to Glory Aug. 14 in Honolulu, after a brief illness.
David Alan Harmon was the third of nine children, born May 23, 1951, to Donald and Freda Harmon in Wauseon, Ohio, where he spent his early years tending to cows and chickens on the family farm.
Harmon graduated from the University of Michigan in 1973 with a bachelor’s degree in music education, and completed the coursework for his master’s degree through Olivet Nazarene University. While at the University of Michigan, he befriended many Salvationists, and in 1970 he was enrolled as a senior soldier at the Flint (Mich.) Citadel Corps. He taught junior high band and orchestra in Flint before moving to Kentucky to teach for a year at Asbury College.
Harmon moved to Chicago in 1977 to work at The Salvation Army Unified Command. He became a member of the Chicago Staff Band, serving as trombone section leader from 1977-1982. Since then, he played trombone in Salvation Army bands in various parts of the world, as well as in community orchestras in Trinidad, The Bahamas and Guam.
In 1979, Harmon married Linda Lindsey, and in 1982 The Salvation Army sent them to the Caribbean where they served as envoys in the Trinidad and Tobago Division as corps officers and divisional youth officers.
They moved in 1984 to Nassau, Bahamas, where they operated a residence for blind children, a shelter for women and children, and a daily childcare center. In 1985, they accepted an additional responsibility, becoming the Grantstown corps officers.
In March 1985, the Army assigned the Harmons the task of beginning its ministry on Grand Bahama island. The work of social assistance came first, then summer camp and the planting of the corps. During his appointment in Freeport, Grand Bahama, Harmon acquired his private pilot license. The Caribbean assignments initiated Harmon’s lifelong love for cross-cultural ministry, as well as a series of appointments in service and ministry to people of a number of island nations.
The Harmons entered the School for Officer Training in Chicago in 1987 and were commissioned in 1989 with the Ambassadors for Christ Session. Their first appointment was to Benton Harbor, Mich. Two years later they returned to Trinidad, where they served for three years.
In 1994, they were appointed for a short time to the Chicago Temple Corps, before being transferred in 1995 to the USA Western Territory as Guam corps officers. They would eventually serve 11 years in Guam, also overseeing The Salvation Army’s work in Chuuk and Saipan.
The Harmons were appointed corps officers in Santa Monica, Calif., in 2006, and then to the Seattle Temple Corps in 2009.
In 2012, Harmon was appointed to Territorial Headquarters as director of world missions.
In 2014, he received his last appointment, divisional secretary for program in the Hawaiian and Pacific Islands Division. He had hoped to finish his officership in Hawaii and planned to make Oahu his retirement home.
Harmon attended the Brengle Institute in 2003. He sang bass with the Western Territory Staff Songsters from 2007-2013.
A celebration of life service was held Aug. 28 at Borthwick Mortuary in Honolulu. He is survived by his wife, Major Linda Harmon, four children—Captain Joel Harmon, Fred Lindsey, Holly Harmon Tremont, Lisa Tokars—five grandchildren, his mother, and seven siblings.
