William Jackson “Bill” Harbin

William Jackson “Bill” Harbin, 91, of Salina, went home to be with the Lord, Sunday, March 31, 2019. Bill was born May 9, 1927, in Neodesha, Kan.

His family relocated to Kansas City, Kan., where he graduated from Wyandotte High School one year early to serve in the Navy during World War II. After the war, Bill came back to Kansas and attended K-State University where he met his wife, Ada Mae Johnston, also from Kansas City. While he was attaining his architectural engineering degree, the couple were wed in August of 1948 and enjoyed 70 years of marriage. Bill and Ada Mae moved to Salina in 1950 where Bill started out his career designing grain elevators for Darwin Sampson. He then began designing houses for Mike Michaelson before establishing Harbin Construction in 1954.

Bill had a zest for life. He loved to travel with his wife, and they were fortunate to get to visit many places throughout the world. Bill loved being close to water, and he and Ada Mae sailed to many exotic places and enjoyed fishing and water sports close to home. He loved spending time outdoors and dabbled with painting landscapes. Many might remember Bill as a fierce competitor who played racquetball and handball for years. He held onto an intense devotion for the Salina YMCA and both K-State Manhattan and Salina campuses during his lifetime.

Bill leaves behind the gift of laughter and his joy of playing games with his beloved family and friends, including: children, Gary Harbin, MD (Pam); Debbie Harbin-Wagner (Don); and Don Harbin (Tracy); grandchildren, Brad Harbin (Whitney), Alex Harbin, MD, Melissa Kazmi (Jaf), Grant Wagner (Amanda), Audrey Lecrone (Matt), Caleb Harbin, Christian Harbin (Maria), and Sarah Cooke (Bobby); great-grandchildren, Olivia Harbin, Lawrence Kazmi, Everly Cooke, and baby Kazmi due any day.

Please join us for a celebration of life at 11:30 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019 at the First Covenant Church, Salina.

In lieu of flowers, memorials to the First Covenant Church.