---- Friday - May 9, 2008 - 9:36:41 AM - Navajo Nation Time ----

Harrison Todychini Lapahie Jr.

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Life Profile of Harrison Jr.
(Dondo, Harrison, then Harry)

Harrison Lapahie Jr. also known as "Dondo" (by relatives and elementary school friends), "Jr" (relatives), or "Harry" (after returning to Los Angeles from BYU in 1979) was born Navajo in Dzil Na'oodilii, New Mexico on September 28, 1955 of Bít'ahnii Tachii'nii lineage. Bít'ahnii (Folded Arms People) from mom Lillie Todychini's side, born for the Tachii'nii (Red Running into Water People) from dad Harrison Lapahie's side. The Tódích'íi'nii (Bitter Water People) were his maternal grandparents, and the Ta'néészahnii (Badlands People) were his paternal grandparents. Harry's mom worked as a Seamstress and his dad worked as an Electronic Mechanic for Rockwell, both for all their lives. Harry's mom's is from Dzil Na'oodilii, NM and his dad is from Sanostee/Shiprock, NM.

Dondo had a couple of influential people in his early life. The most important probably being, his mom (Lillie), his dad (Harrison Sr.), and his Grandma Julia Armstrong on his mom's side. Harry's mom, Lillie, was a hard working seamstress and was very loving to her family, who made clothes for her son when Harry was in elementary school, and influenced dad when making important decisions. Her earlier convictions to Christ influenced her family for the good in living a Christian life. Dad, Harrison Lapahie, who was smart, discipline, and strict, always wanted Dondo to give the best in everything he did. One saying that father Harrison Lapahie always would say to his son was, "Show them what an Indian can do!" Grandma Julia Armstrong influence was her ability to live a fruitful life in an environment of difficulty. She lived in a hogan 60 miles from the nearest town, she had no electricity or running water, yet she was able to provide for her self and her children and grandchildren through out all her life. Having no marketable skills or a "white man's" education, Grandma had no job other than living a life as a "Sheepherder". Yet she survived, had a happy and fullfilling life, to live until the age of 90 years.

As a youngster, Harry was known as "Dondo" by relatives and neighborhood kids, growing up in the Pico-Union District of downtown Los Angeles. He was also known as "Harrison" throughout his secondary and college school years. He later decided to call himself "Harry", because of the confusion his first name caused. Most of the time his first name "Harrison" was filed as a last name, and people thought of "Lapahie" as his first name. Therefore, he decided to call himself "Harry", at least to stop some of the confusion. His last name "Lapahie" came from his great grandfather on his father's side, Hosteen Lapahie. In Navajo, Hosteen means "Mister" (as a sign of respect) referring to an older or elderly man, and Lapahie (pronounced "Kleh Bajeh") means "gray" or "light complexion". Therefore, Lapahie, means gray hair, or light complexion, from a reference to great grandfather, Mr. Hosteen Lapahie.

Dondo was raised in Pico-Union (a downtown Los Angeles neighborhood), and attended 10th St Elementary, Berendo Jr High and Belmont High.

After Belmont, Harry attended Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah in 1973. Provo had Mormons (high morals, God-Family 1st), rocky mountains, snow and blizzards, 99% White, no drugs-alcohol or crime. Harry missed out on most of the 70s era (discos, X-films) at BYU.

Harry earned a BA in Math in 1977, to return to his parents in Pico-Union in 1979, to notice secondary school friends had moved and downtown Los Angeles was dying. Harry wanted to return to Provo, but a Math Teacher job at south-central's Fremont High caused Harry to stay. A prison-educational system (bldg lockdowns, no clubs), low morale, and students being about 4 grade levels behind were its problems.

Harry then pursued in the evenings, an Electrical Engineering degree at CA State Univ Long Beach (BSEE 1985), CA State Univ Los Angeles (MSEE 1990) and Univ of CA Los Angeles (PhD units in Education).

In 1985 his dad, Harrison Lapahie (Sr.) died. Harrison (Sr.) was unable to see the realization of his dream for his son, having passed away from a second heart attack in the early morning hours, a day before Thanksgiving, in 1985, at their apartment in downtown Los Angeles. On Thanksgiving Day, Dondo and other relatives travelled to Harrison (Sr.) funeral in Shiprock, New Mexico. Harrison Lapahie (Sr.) was buried at Memory Gardens Cemetery between Farmington and Aztec, New Mexico. What Harry missed were the late night talks till 2 am, and Harrison (Sr.) blessings as he laid his hands on Dondo's forehead. His father was his best friend! In November 2001, mom Lillie Lapahie accepted dad Harrison Lapahie's (Sr.) U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor at the Navajo Nation Capitol (Window Rock, Arizona), belatedly bestowed to his dad by the U.S. government, 16 years after he died, and 56 years after he served as a U.S. Marine in World War II. Dad Harrison Lapahie (Sr.) was one of the legendary Navajo Code Talkers of World War II yet not one of his neighbors knew about that!

After earning his BSEE, Harry worked on boresight, spaceborne processing, attitude control, programming, refinery analysis, technical writing, and part-time teaching of math, electronics and computer science.

Harry worked as a Software Systems Engineer/Programmer at JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory). Harry married Elementary School Teacher, Nilda Quimno Bingil, a beautiful, tall, humble, Chinese Filipina, born in southern Mindanao, Philippines. One miscarriage later, they are expecting a girl to be born in September 2004. Harry calls Nilda "Onggoy" (Monkey), "Onggoy Palautot" (Skunking Monkey) or "Gah" ("Love" in Cebuano and "Rabbit" in Navajo) and she calls Harry her "Baboy" (Pig) or "Baboy Palautot" (Skunking Pig). Harry moved from the family's Pico-Union apt in 1988 to buy a 2-story townhouse in Huntington Park, CA during the height of the real estate boom in California. Harry and his wife Nilda, also own a two homes in Davao Del Sur, on the island of Mindanao, in the Philippines. One is a bamboo structure in the jungles of Matanao near the river, and the other is a cement 3-bedroom, 2 shower home in the village of Tamlangon. The cement home was built with the supervison of Nilda and her relatives in Tamlangon. Mom Lillie Lapahie's stroke in 1997 caused her to leave Pico-Union after 45 years to live with Harry and Nilda in Huntington Park. The Pico Union District has turned from a well kept multi-racial neighborhood of the 1950s and 1960s to slowly and steadily deteriorate to become a run down neighborhood of today of mostly Latino illegals since about the mid 1980s.

Harry Lapahie's whole life has been one of mistaken identity! In general, throughout Harry's secondary, college, teaching, and engineering years, he was rarely thought of as an American Indian, and mistakenly thought of as being either Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, or Filipino. When he told others that he was Indian, they assume that Harry was an Indian from India. It was therefore easier for Harry to socialize among Japanese and Chinese ethnic groups in his youth than with any other race. But as Harry has gotten older, he has looked less Chinese, looking Filipino, and now less Filipino, looking more Mexican (Indio). Harry has therefore experienced from youth, the negative racial comments that Mexicans think and say to Asians, and what Asians think about Blacks and Mexicans but never say in public. From elementary school to junior high, Harry fought strictly with Mexicans (for just living in the wrong neighborhood), and from elementary school to college easily made friends with Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, and Vietnamese. Asians thought Harry was Asian and would easily make comments about Blacks and Mexicans to him while studying or being friends from high school to working in Los Angeles. Harry therefore has a good understanding of how Asian see themselves, their comparisons of themselves with other Non-Asian races, their racial prejudices, and how Non-Asians (Latinos & Blacks in general) treat and think about Asians here in Los Angeles.

Harry's personal time has been used in traveling to the 4-Corners (AZ-NM-UT-CO), helping his mom, attending church, creating computer video games in Turbo C, and doing his website which concerns the Navajo. The URL is "www.lapahie.com". Since the Navajo Code Talkers' Association don't have a website, his website is currently being used as their unofficial site! The Navajo Code Talker website is www.lapahie.com/NavajoCodeTalker.cfm. This website has caused groups and individuals to seek Harry's counsel and be their Guest Speaker concerning the Navajo Code Talkers, about his father Navajo Code Talker Harrison Lapahie (Sr.), and Navajo history and culture in general!

Harry is a member of the Institue of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), and "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" (the Mormons). Harry has been active in AISES by attending their chapter meetings at CSULB, and being a participant in their Annual Conferences twice, once in Buffalo, New York, and again in Detroit, Michigan. Harry is active in the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints", attending the LDS Bell Ward in Huntington Park, CA. In church, he has been an Usher Coordinator, Home Teacher, Sunday School Second Counselor, Stake Missionary, and Executive Secretary of the Elders Quorum Presidency. As a Home Teacher, he has been assigned to home teach certain families in the Ward or Branch once a month. He also checked up on them, to see if his families were in need of assistances from the Home Teachers, Elders, or Ward in general. As an Executive Secretary to the Elders Quorum Presidency, he has kept the records of the active and in-active members up to date. In-active members were then followed up by home visits, to help them with any spiritual, social, or emotional problems that they might be having. He also sometimes went on missionary splits with the missionaries. He has tried to take one LDS class a semester at the LDS Institute of Religion just off campus at USC.

What Harry misses of his Belmont years: