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James H. Harless

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Buck Harless
Born(1919-10-14)October 14, 1919
Taplin, West Virginia
DiedJanuary 1, 2014(2014-01-01) (aged 94)
Gilbert, West Virginia
Occupation(s)coal miner, timber operator, philanthropist
Spouse(s)
Hallie Lois Chapman
​
​
(m. 2001; "his death" is deprecated; use "died" instead. 2014)​

June Montgomery
​
​
(m. 1939; died 1999)​
ChildrenLarry Joe (deceased), Judy

James Howard "Buck" Harless (October 14, 1919 – January 1, 2014) was an American coal and timber operator.[1]

Early life

Harless was born in Taplin, West Virginia in 1919.[2] His hometown was Gilbert, in Mingo County, West Virginia.

After graduation from Gilbert High School, he worked as a miner for several years at Red Jacket Coal Co. In 1947 he gave up mining to become a part-owner and manager of a Gilbert saw-mill.[3]

Business interests

Harless grew the Gilbert Lumber Company into the multimillion-dollar International Industries Inc conglomerate,[4] of which in 1947 he was the founder. At the time of his death he was the President and CEO of International Industries, which had proceeds exceeding $700 million a year. International Industries, Inc. is based primarily in natural resources such as coal mining and timber, but which also include the manufacturing, hotel and real estate industries.[5] It conducted business from three divisions including International Resources, Inc. (coal mining and marketing company L&K Coal), Gilco Lumber (lumber production and distribution), Inc., and Benson International, Inc. (manufacturing of trailers and truck bodies) and had operations in five states serving domestic and international customers.

Harless has been on the Massey Energy Board of Directors serving up to 2005 as the Chairman of the Public and Environmental Policy Committee.

Awards and recognitions

Harless was inducted into the West Virginia Coal Hall of Fame. The West Virginia Mining and Reclamation Association named him the Coal Man of the Year in 1976.[6] In 1983, the Charleston Gazette-Mail named Harless West Virginian of the Year. In 2001 he was named to the West Virginia Business Hall of Fame.[6]

Political action

State

In the 1960s, Harless served two terms as mayor of his hometown of Gilbert.[7] During his tenure, he oversaw the March 1963 flood that impacted the area.[8]

James "Buck" Harless made contributions to West Virginia State Senate candidates.[9]

Federal

In the 2000 presidential election, Harless was credited with helping George W. Bush win the traditionally Democratic state of West Virginia, and in turn claim his narrow nationwide victory.[10] Harless was a fund-raiser who raised US$275,000 for Bush's presidential campaign, five times more than Al Gore collected statewide. He was described by The New York Times as "the state's most prolific Republican fund-raiser."[11]

"You did everything you could to elect a Republican president," William Raney, director of the West Virginia Coal Association told a group of industry executives in May 2001, did not submit the Kyoto Protocol for Senate ratification. "You are already seeing in his actions the payback, if you will, his gratitude for what we did."[12]

In 2002, Harless was appointed by president Bush to the United States Air Force Academy Board of Visitors.[13] He also served on the Bush Transition Energy Advisory Team.[14]

In 2004 he was State Finance Chair of the President George W. Bush-Campaign Organization, West Virginia.[15]

Also James "Buck" Harless, introduced Bush to the crowd at the West Virginia Coal Association annual meeting on July 31, 2008.[16]

Death

Harless died, surrounded by his family, after a brief illness on January 1, 2014 at his home in Gilbert, West Virginia. He was 94.[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ "W.Va. industrialist Buck Harless dies at 94". The Herald-Dispatch. January 2, 2014.
  2. ^ "Buck Harless". NNDB.
  3. ^ "Harless Genealogy Biographies". harlessgenealogy.com.
  4. ^ "WV businessman James "Buck" Harless dead at 94". West Virginia MetroNews.
  5. ^ "Energy Companies Support Environmental Geosciences Program at Concord". Concord University. Archived from the original on September 11, 2006.
  6. ^ a b "James H. Harless". West Virginia University.
  7. ^ "W.Va. industrialist James 'Buck' Harless dies at 94". United Press International.
  8. ^ United States Congress. Hearings, volume 12. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 511.
  9. ^ "Coal companies are big political donors". WV Citizens for Clean Elections. Archived from the original on 2010-04-14.
  10. ^ "Mingo mourns Harless' passing". The Mingo Messenger. January 9, 2014. Archived from the original on August 14, 2020.
  11. ^ Christopher Drew; Richard A. Oppel Jr. (August 9, 2004). "MINES TO MOUNTAINTOPS: Rewriting Coal Policy; Friends in the White House Come to Coal's Aid". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 28, 2015.
  12. ^ "Bought and Paid For". AlterNet. March 29, 2004. Archived from the original on 23 February 2013.
  13. ^ "President Bush to Nominate Five and Appoint Five Individuals to Serve in His Administration". georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov. May 6, 2002.
  14. ^ "The politics of energy: coal, the Bush administration's fuel of choice". Center for Public Integrity.
  15. ^ "Bush-Cheney '04 West Virginia Campaign Organization". Democracy in Action. Archived from the original on May 3, 2004.
  16. ^ "President Addresses West Virginia Coal Association". The State Journal. August 7, 2008. Archived from the original on May 26, 2011.
  17. ^ "W.Va. industrialist Buck Harless dies at 94". Shepherdstown Chronicle. January 2, 2014. Archived from the original on January 3, 2014.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_H._Harless&oldid=973019465"