of Harrison, AR

October 1, 1949 - May 25, 2025

James Doyle Harp, age 75, passed away May 25, 2025 at North Arkansas Medical Center. He was born October 1, 1949 in Harrison, Arkansas. His parents were Doyle Harp and Vilna Rowland Harp. Mr. Harp grew up in ''the Basin'' in Newton County, Arkansas. Even though he was an only child, he had a community of family influences, especially his grandpa ''Pa Frank'', as well as Aunt Sal, Uncle Marion, and Aunt Lizzie. Mr. Harp was very proud of his boys, Paul and Franklin, and enjoyed his grandchildren as much as possible.

Mr. Harp's early education was at Jasper School District for elementary, then he transferred to Harrison School District for junior high and high school He graduated from Harrison High in 1967. He earned his bachelor's degree in Animal Husbandry and his master's degree in Animal Nutrition, both degrees obtained at the University of Arkansas.

Mr. Harp was a hard working person, starting young on the family farm in Newton County. They raised hogs and dairy cattle, then switched to beef cattle later. He was always a cattle rancher/farmer, until he turned it over to his sons, while continuing to offer his advice and opinions on how to operate the business.

After graduating college, he worked under the supervision of Denver Sullins at Claude Withers Motors, where he honed his salesmanship skills. During the same time he taught as an adjunct instructor in Agriculture at North Arkansas Community College.

Mr. Harp was always an excellent mathematician, which led to his next occupation as a stockbroker for A.G. Edwards for many years. He rode out a couple of crashes and ended on a high note, giving his ''book'' to Allen Rogers, who had been his protege since Allen graduated college.

He then moved to his next occupation as a realtor, first with Rodney and Denver Sullins, then as the owner of Harp and Associates Real Estate. Mr. Harp served as the President of Harrison Board of Realtors for the year 2002. He expanded that to a successful enterprise, sold the business and a few years later founded Weichert Realtors-Market Edge with Melissa Collins and Tom Benton, which has since grown to 22 agents. After Mr. Harp retired, Franklin is honored to be following in his fathers's footsteps.

He was a member of several local bank boards, starting with First National Bank of Berryville. One of the highlights of his business life was helping to organize Community First Bank of Harrison, where he was one of the original board members, as well as managing a lucrative bond portfolio until Community First Bank sold to Equity Bank, where he was a board member, until he left to serve on the current board of Signature Bank,

His civic duties started in Newton County, serving on the Newton County Quorum Court from 1996-2004. Mr. Harp was instrumental, along with other community leaders, to get public water to the residents of Marble Falls/Basin Valley. After moving to Harrison, Mr.Harp was elected to the Boone County Quorum Court, serving from 2015-2024, when he retired. He was also actively serving on the Planning Commission of the city of Harrison.

Mr. Harp was a member of Harrison Kiwanis, where he served for many years, serving as Club President from 2007-2008.. He earned the ''Ruby K'' for being instrumental in starting the Kiwanis Club in Berryville.

Mr. Harp was presented the John Paul Hammerschmidt Men of Distinction for the class of 2024, proud to be alongside his good friend, Rodney Sullins. He was awarded many honors in his lifetime, but one of the things he loved best was encouraging younger members of the business community to be the stars he knew they could become. He was honored to have helped so many young and not so young members of the community.

His church affiliations have been mainly St. Paul's United Methodist, Cumberland-Presbyterian, and Harrison First United Methodist Church. He was actively involved in each.

Mr. Harp was known to be a great storyteller. He had many opportunities to practice, whether it was fishing for salmon on the banks of the Kenai in Alaska with his friend Arthur Royston, eating breakfast with the Ranch House Breakfast Buddies, the RBC, or the Town House Harrison Class of 1967.

Mr. Harp's first priority was always his family: he was very proud of them. He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Carolyn (Polk) Harp of the home, two sons, Paul and Melissa (Matthews) of Marble Falls and Franklin and Uriel (Jefferies) also of Marble Falls. Eight grandchildren: James Lindsey Harp of Marble Falls, Ashley (Blythe) and Will Aldridge of Bergman, Tyler Harp of Harrison, Thomas and Tiffany (Lewis) of Marble Falls, Heighla (Harp) and Richard Atkinson of Harrison, Levi Harp, Noah Harp, and Bella Harp, all of Marble Falls. Nine great grandchildren: Averi, Emilee, Grayson, Elijah, Jaysen, Ryan, Jaxen, Tate, and Gabriel.


Visitation and funeral services under the direction of Roller-Christeson Funeral Home will be as follows:

Visitation was Thursday, May 29, 2025, at Roller-Christeson.

Service was Friday, May 30, 2025, at the First United Methodist Church in Harrison with the interment at Shaddox Cemetery.

Pallbearers were Jerry Jones, Ron Richardson, Allen Rogers, Paul Roten, Ty Rowland, Arthur Royston, Rodney Sullins and Brandt Ward.

Honorary pallbearers were Ranch House Breakfast Buds, Rowdy Boys Club, Town House Class of 1967, and the Cumberland-Presbyterian Quartet.


In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to First United Methodist Church, Kiwanis Club of Harrison, NorthArk College Nursing Program, or Arkansas Children's Hospital.

Obituary Provided By:
Roller-Christeson Funeral Home
519 North Spring Street
Harrison, AR  72601
www.rollerfuneralhomes.com