Notable death

Let me commend Howard Cohen on his year-in-review article, Passages: Recalling S. Florida notables who died in 2015. I would like to add one more notable: Harper Davidson of Coral Gables, who died on Oct. 11.

Harper was a substantial and respected life-long resident of South Florida who was active in civic affairs, the business community, his family and his faith.

There were two aspects of his life that distinguished him as a notable:

▪ He led a flight of Army Reserve helicopters into the Everglades in support of the emergency response to the Eastern Airlines Flight 401 crash.

▪ He was a distinguished president of the Orange Bowl Committee during a period of time when the committee was making significant progress in diversifying its membership to reflect the makeup of Greater Miami.

On a personal note, Harper was my commander in the 478th Civil Affairs Army Reserve unit headquartered at the University of Miami.

This story was originally published January 9, 2016 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Notable death."