Celebrating Lee Harmon: One of Yuba City's primary developers looks back on career

Jul. 14—Lee Harmon is on the verge of celebrating his 100th birthday with over 1,000 acres of annexed, zoned and developed land to show for his 70 year career as a prominent land broker in Northern California.

Harmon first came to the Yuba-Sutter area at the age of 16, hitchhiking his way from Tahlequah, Oklahoma to Hanford. He chopped cotton for two weeks there before earning enough money to head north toward Lincoln. From there, he caught a ride to Marysville — or as he said, "Mars-ville" — with a truck full of cowboys who thought it would be more fun not to correct his mis-pronunciation. Harmon then took the trolley from Marysville into Yuba City and walked from the corner of Plumas Street and Highway 20 to spend the night at a school bus stop in Tierra Buena.

"The next morning I got a job for 25 cents an hour right across the street," said Harmon, happily.

The remaining summers of Harmon's high school years were full of travel as he gauged where he might want to go if he didn't get drafted for the war. He married his highschool sweetheart two days after graduation, and they came back to Yuba City to live off of what was then considered a generous wage of $42 a week.

At that time, the barracks at Beale Air Force Base were still under construction, and the general public was tasked with housing a large influx of military personnel. This made it hard for the Harmon couple to find a place to stay, so they ended up settling for a converted chicken coop on Haynes Avenue.

"It didn't have air conditioning or anything, but I didn't care because I was in love so much and so was she," said Harmon, wistfully.

Seven years later, the couple's humble beginnings led to an 11 acre parcel of land with orchards and a home with two rentals properties on Carlson road. From there, they accrued a few more ranches before deciding to sell one off.

Harmon recalled that the broker he hired ended up making a $3,000 commission off this property, a deal that sparked his entrepreneurial mind.

"I told the wife, 'Wow, we're in the wrong business you know, or maybe we could do that and make it compatible with our ranching,'" said Harmon. "So we both became real estate agents."

Harmon and his three siblings grew up in Oklahoma on a parcel of property his mother had acquired in reparation for her ancestors' forced participation in an historical event known as "The Trail of Tears." His family began moving more often after his father obtained a job as an oil driller, but even still Harmon would work summers to alleviate some of the families financial burden.

Being half Cherokee and half white gave Harmon a taste of both oppression and privilege.

This upbringing softened his heart to the plight of migrant Indian workers looking to establish themselves in California around the 1940s.

"When I got here, the Indian wasn't new to me. They spoke different, but they looked just like the guys I was raised with," said Harmon. "They couldn't vote, they couldn't marry, and they couldn't bring their wives here and they couldn't own land. They couldn't do any of that.... But I was raised to help people. My mother did, my grandfather did and that's what I'm supposed to do too."

Harmon recall's taking some of his Sikh friends to the doctor and grocery stores and, once they had saved enough money, he started helping them buy and develop land. He estimates that he has now sold enough land to Sikh people that it is almost impossible to come into Yuba City without passing through property they own.

Jaswant Bains, brother of the late Didar Bains and uncle to Sutter County District 4 Supervisor Karm Bains, spoke highly of Harmon's contributions and confirmed the role he played in helping coordinate the establishment of the first Sikh Temple in Sutter County.

"Lee knew all the bankers in the area, so he kind of led them by the hand and got that part done for them," said Jaswant Bains in reference to the building of the temple. "I think one of his biggest attributes is that he's a deal maker, he's always looking to make a deal."

Before the building of the temple in 1969, Sikh people had to travel as far as Stockton to worship. Harmon recalls having tea with one older Sikh woman he referred to as "Nanakaur Poonian," who pleaded with him to have a temple built locally for her and her children to worship in.

"They were traveling to Stockton every Sunday and the kids were so tired that they would be falling asleep in school come Monday," said Harmon. "I told her I already had ideas on how to do it, but my problem was I'm not the right guy."

A few months later, Harmon was able to establish a meeting with Didar Bains, who later became one of the 26 founding members of a nonprofit corporation called the Sikh Temple Gurdwara, Yuba City.

"He did all the work, I just gave him Nanakaur's idea and my own and the rest is history," added Harmon.

Harmon is very proud of his many Sikh friendships, and considers his contributions to the community to be one of the primary highlights of his life. His involvement inspired him to write an autobiographical account called "Secrets of the Sikh's: From the Very Poorest to the Very Wealthiest in Eighty Years."

He hopes that the book will be ready for publication by November, just in time for his 100th birthday, which just so happens to coincide with the celebration of Guru Nanak, the first Sikh guru.

"He's shared some of the ideas for his book with me and I'd be very excited to read the finished product," added Jaswant Bains.

Aside from these accomplishments, Harmon is also the proud husband of Ethel Harmon, one of the first female contractors in Northern California. Together they worked to develop the Raley's Shopping Center in Yuba City, Royo Ranchero Estates in Yuba City, Bonanza Inn in Yuba City, Saddleback Estates in Yuba County, Lake Wildwood in Nevada County and the Thunderbird Mobile Home Park in Linda just to name a few.

The two have been married for 82 years. However, Lee Harmon was forced to surrender his beloved wife to a care facility about eight months ago due to her progressive dementia. Even still, he works to keep her memories alive through frequent visits and a plethora of framed photos in his office.

"She's a very quiet person, very intelligent, very sweet and kind. I never met anyone who didn't like her," said Harmon, fondly. "The dirtiest word I'd ever heard her say was 'Oh shoot.'"

Even in his golden years, Harmon still has a heart to serve some of society's most disadvantaged demographics. His latest interests have centered on the growing epidemic of homelessness throughout the state.

Harmon envisions putting his development skills back to work to establish two projects; "Cielito" and "Sierra Largo Vista." The first would be a gated community with about 500 single family homes dedicated towards helping women with children become self-sufficient. The latter would be a more in-depth rehabilitative resort with multiple medical wards and housing facilities surrounded by recreational grounds.

"I would call it a center for mental advancement' because it focuses on re-educating and advancing one's mindset and mental health," explained Harmon.

There are currently no plans in action for either of these facilities but Harmon has been diligent about sharing his ideas with local community leaders.

"He's a very positive person," said Jaswant Bains. "Even now, even at his age, he's got a lot of energy and a lot of ideas and is always on the go, always thinking forward."