Harry served in the Marine Corps in the South Pacific from 1943 to 1946 as an amphibian tractor operator, seeing action throughout the Theatre, including Guadal Canal. Upon the end of the WWII, he attended college on the G.I. Bill, graduated from Washburn University in Topeka, and did graduate work at Fort Hays State University and the University of Missouri at Columbia. Harry was employed by the State of Kansas Vocational Rehabilitation in 1955 as a counselor in Iola, Kansas, and from 1958 to 1966 was a supervisor of local Vocational Rehab offices in Topeka. He took possession of Schilling Air Base Hospital for the State in 1966, creating the Vocational Rehabilitation Center in Salina, and was its first administrator until his retirement in 1988. He also worked extensively throughout the United States as an evaluator for the Committee for Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities.

Harry was a former member of the Salina Elks and Salina Rotary Club, and a member of the Honor Society of Delta Epsilon at Fort Hays. He was an authority in Native American Poetry, textiles and beadwork.

He was preceded in death by his parents and by his sister, Harriet Tiner. Survivors include his wife, Martha, of the home; a son, Harry Scott Shimp and wife Jennifer Livengood of Salina; and a granddaughter, Katherine Scott Shimp.

A memorial mass will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, August 24, 2007, at Christ Cathedral, 138 S. Eighth St. in Salina, Kansas.

Memorials may be made to the Friends of the Salina Animal Shelter, Christ Cathedral, or Salina Regional Health Center.