Harris Green Lee Rea, III, (often called Lee) passed into the arms of our Lord and Savior, on May 11, 2017 at MD Anderson Hospital in Houston, Texas surrounded by his wife Carmen and family and friends after a long and courageous battle with leukemia.
He is survived by his wife, Carmen Faye Sunda, his children Harris Green Lee Rea, IV (Lee) and Lillie McCall Rea, his step-son, Joseph Gregory Meier, Lee and Lillie’s mother, Shirani Jayasuria Rea, his mother, Doris McCall Rea and his sisters and brother, Martha Rea Calkins, LuAnne Rea, Robin Rea Carico, Mark Odell Rea, his “adopted son” Kumar Percy Jayasuriya, Kumar’s wife Betsy and their child Vijay, who he called Lil' Mack, his devoted niece Tammy Douglas, nieces and nephew, and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. He was proceeded in death by his father, Harris Green Lee Rea, II.
Originally from Charlotte, North Carolina, Harris moved to New Orleans in 1968 to attend Tulane University, where he fell in love with New Orleans and its rich and diverse musical culture. He assisted in the start-up of the Tulane campus record store that became Mushroom Record Store. He was a music promotor, food franchise owner and founder of Peaches Records and Tapes, now operated by Shirani Jayasuria Rea and his children Lee and Lillie.
Harris Rea started Big Easy Distribution, establishing the careers of many now national known artists and record labels. In 1996, Harris founded Louisiana Red Hot Records in New Orleans, Louisiana, a leader among Southern independent labels in marketing and worldwide distribution, and has released over 200 albums of the hottest Blues, Jazz, R&B, Gospel, Funk, Zydeco, Cajun and Rock. Harris received the Cutting Edge Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015 and in 2016 was named Record Label of the Year by OffBeat Magazine in the Best of the Beat Awards.
In lieu of flowers, he has requested donations to leukemia research at MD Anderson Hospital in Houston, Texas, https://gifts.mdanderson.org. A Celebration of Life will be held at Munholland Methodist Church, 1201 Metairie Road, Metairie, La. 70005 on Tuesday June 6, 2017 at 2pm followed by a reception in the church fellowship hall and at Providence Presbyterian Church, 10140 Providence Church Lane, Charlotte, NC 28277, July 12, 2017 at 2pm followed by a reception in the church fellowship hall.
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