The Rt. Rev. George Clinton Harris, retired Bishop of Alaska, died at his Aberdeen, S.D., home May 7. He was 74.

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Bishop Harris was a graduate of Rutgers University and the General Theological Seminary. He was ordained deacon and priest in 1953 and consecrated Bishop of Alaska in 1981.

He was curate at the Church of the Heavenly Rest, New York City, 1953-55. From 1956 to 1962, he served in the Philippine missions, doing work in both parishes and schools. He returned to the U.S. in 1970 as rector of Lower Luzerne Parish, Hazelton, Pa., until 1974. Working with Native Americans, Bishop Harris served as director of the Dakota Leadership Program, Mobridge, S.D., from 1974 until his election as Bishop of Alaska in 1981. He served in Alaska until he retired in 1991. In his retirement, Bishop Harris was a Volunteer for Mission and visiting fellow at College of the Ascension, Selly Oak, Birmingham, England, 1991-92.

Over his coffin at St. Mark's Church, Aberdeen, in place of a pall, lay a South Dakota Star quilt emblazoned with a dark blue cross. "The marriage of Lakota hymns and those from the Hymnal 1982 lifted praises to God as we were truly united in one Spirit," said the bishop's son-in-law, the Rev. Wilson Valentine, of the vigil service the day before the funeral.

Bishop Harris is survived by his wife, Mary Jane Shotwell Harris, three daughters, Rebecca, Priscilla and Anne, three sons, Clinton, David and Matthew, nine grandchildren and a brother.