James T. Harris, 87, of Bedford, MA, formerly of Cambridge, MA and Brooklyn Heights, NY passed away peacefully on July 27, 2016, surrounded by family. He was the loving husband of Elizabeth Goodridge Flemings and the late Joan Weidemann Harris. Born in Montclair, New Jersey on March 10, 1929, he was the son of George Stiles and Anne Smith Harris. He attended Montclair public school and graduated from Montclair High School in 1947. He received a BA degree in 1951 from Amherst College and a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School in 1954. He practiced law in New York City, specializing in low-income housing law until his retirement in 1993. A thirty-five year resident in Brooklyn Heights, New York, he summered in Warren, Connecticut. After the death of his first wife in 1993, he moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts and in 1996 married Elizabeth Flemings. Music was always an important part of his life. He was a talented trombone player and enjoyed playing jazz, particularly Dixieland music. He liked working around the house and was always involved in the renovation of houses in which he lived, first the 1860 brownstone in Brooklyn Heights, then the 1775 farm house in Warren, Connecticut, and then the newest, an 1895 house in Cambridge, Massachusetts. An avid woodworker, he enjoyed making toys for the grandchildren as well as all the frames for Elizabeth's artwork. He was an excellent cook with a specialty in elaborate Chinese dinners. He liked to travel, most frequently in Europe and usually with a stop in Denmark to visit his daughter and extended family. In addition to his wife Elizabeth, he is survived by daughter Karen Harris Hvenegaard and her husband Niels, son Christopher Harris and his wife Alice Sajdera, step-daughter Anne Flemings Keuper and her husband John, and step-son Peter Flemings and his wife Ann and grandchildren Jesse, Sean, Emily, Christina , and Nicholas. He was predeceased by his brothers Peter and John Harris. A celebration of James Harris' life will be held at 2 pm on September 25th in the First Parish in Bedford Unitarian Universalist, 75 Great Road, Bedford, MA. Contributions in his memory may be made to Doctors without Borders, P.O. Box 5030, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5030. Arrangements are under the care of the Dee Funeral Home of Concord.