Richard Benjamin Harrison: All About Him And His Life
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About His Life
Richard Benjamin Harrison was a businessman from America and he was very famous for the work he did. He was also a television personality, thai s reality television personality. Richard Benjamin Harrison was born on March 4th, 1941, and died recently on 25th June 2018. Richard Benjamin Harrison was born in Danville, Virginia, United States, and died in Las Vegas, Nevada, US.
He has many nicknames and some of them are THE OLD MAN and THE APPRAISER. Richard is best known for his business things as well as a co-owner of a shop based on Gold and Silver Pawn. He is one of the very well-known figures in a reality show known as Pawn Star. This show was featured on the History Channel. Richard Benjamin Harrison along with his son Rick Harrison was the co-owner of the shop. With his utmost desire to be on top, he opened the shop in 1989 along with his son.
Early Life
Richard Benjamin Harrison was of Irish descent. When Richard Benjamin Harrison was young by them that they moved to Lexington. It happened when he was one year old. After that, they lived in South Main Street, 115 Peacock Avenue. Richard Benjamin Harrison was a bright student and he studied in Lexington High School but he left during his junior year.
Richard Benjamin Harrison faced life problems especially related to money. He belonged to a very poor family and therefore he felt and faced issues reflected in that. In order to support his family Richard Benjamin Harrison drove a school bus, just when he was fourteen years old.
While driving the bus, he used to get five to six dollars a week. It was really difficult to get up in the morning and then pick up the student and then park the bus at his house during the night, therefore we see he has been a hard worker since his childhood.
His Family
It is magical how he met his wife. When Richard Benjamin Harrison was 17 years of age, he went on or attended a barn dance. There he met Joanne Rhue. She was the daughter of Joseph Rhue, who was a country judge. Richard Benjamin Harrison married to Joseph in 1960. Joanne got pregnant quickly as they got married and they wanted to have a child as soon as possible. It was immediate and the first child of Richard Benjamin Harrison and Joanne, Sherry, was born with Down syndrome. After that, they had three more sons named Joseph, Rick, and Chris. Sherry died just when she was six years old.
Controversy And Navy
There was this controversy that before Richard married he stole a car and because of that, he got into some problems and therefore faced some issues. He got arrested and was given two choices, one was to go to prison and the other was to go into the military. Richard Benjamin Harrison being him, chose the second option and after that, he got into the military.
He then entered into the Navy of the United States in 1958. Soon after that in the year 1962, Richard Benjamin Harrison left the army but immediately after fourteen months, he enlisted in the Navy again. The reason for him to do that was that he had to meet the medical needs of his child Sherry, who was facing issues. Therefore, he had to go to the Navy again in order to fulfill the medical expenses.
Richard Benjamin Harrison served as a civil servant for at least 20 years. He served with his utmost heart and his desire to do so. During his tenure, he served on four ships and his final ship served from 1972-1976, it was USS Chowanoc, (AFT-100).
Soon after that in 1976, Richard Benjamin Harrison got a Transfer to San Diego. While Richard Benjamin Harrison was serving in the Navy, his wife got a license in real estate. Soon when Richard Benjamin Harrison retired he joined his wife’s business and started working with her, part-time. He discharged from the Navy in 1979 and in 1981 his and his wife’s business faced a lucid draw and therefore it collapsed.
Business Of Richard Benjamin Harrison
Since the Collapse of Their Business, Richard Benjamin Harrison and his wife moved with their children with a total amount of five thousand dollars to Las Vegas. There they started to work again and decided as well as open a shop of gold and silver coins in the square feet of 300. After the starting of this business, soon after five years, they started their business at another level and a larger scale.
After that, in 1987, Richard Benjamin Harrison got the license to buy second-hand goods and that was the best thing that happened to them. Richard Benjamin Harrison’s son Rick says that it was really difficult for them to turn the business into a pawn store. But with time it happened. In the year of 1989, Richard Benjamin Harrison got a pawn license. In the year of 2005, Richard Benjamin Harrison and his son were earning a lot. They were loaning approximately three million dollars and after that, they were getting interest income of more than seven million dollars.
Jewelry store
The most common thing that bought by the people from the store was jewelry. According to the news, there were about more than 12000 items in the inventory of the store in 2011. Richard Benjamin Harrison used to be the first line to arrive at the store in the morning.
In the year 2006, the shop’s reputation developed and boosted. The shop used to Carry all the unique items and was particularly famous for all the special sports items. All the items had a very special history and significance and therefore the store got fame.
From 2009 until Richard Benjamin Harrison’s death, he was all about along with his family into his business. They soon started a reality program with a name called ‘Pawn Star’ on the television on the History Channel. The show got so much fan following and Richard Benjamin Harrison’s role in that was to stay grumpy and strict and old. He himself says that about his role in the show. The average number of customers increased from 70 to 700 per day in the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop. And by 2012, the number of people visiting the store reached between 3000 to 5000.
Awards And Recognition Of Richard Benjamin Harrison
- In 2010 (March), Richard Benjamin Harrison, his son, his grandson, and Russell got an award for ‘The Key to the City of Las Vegas’ by OSCAR GOODMAN.
- Richard Benjamin Harrison as well as other pawn stars recognised as grand marshals.
- In 2012, Richard Benjamin Harrison awarded again as ‘key to the city of Lexington by its mayor Clark Newell. Moreover, the day when it awarded, the 29th of May is popular as ‘Richard Benjamin Harrison’s Day’, officially.
- In 2012, the 17th of July was declared as ‘Pawn Stars Gold and Silver Pawn Day’ by the Clark Commission.
- Richard Benjamin Harrison and his son even got nominated for the Time 100 list in 2012.
His Interests
Richard Benjamin Harrison was particularly passionate about automobiles. He was fond of cars and some of them were the 1966 Imperial Crown, the 1957 Chevy 150 sedan, and the mid-1960s B&Z Electra King electric car.
He wanted to be popular by the nice name “old man”, it was a nickname given to him and he was particularly famous for that.
Death Of Richard Benjamin Harrison
Richard Benjamin Harrison died on the 25th of June in 2018. He was suffering from a disease called Parkinson’s disease. He enjoyed his life to the fullest and always worked hard. After his death, there was this episode which was a commemorative with title “A Treasure Remed” run by Pawn Star. This episode featured the interview and show about him and his beliefs about life in general.
Conclusion
Richard Benjamin Harrison was a very well-known man for his humble nature to be particular. He always had this vision to do his best in life and devote himself to the family you belong to. Richard was a great example of ‘practice makes a man perfect’ and never give up. He still stands as an inspiration for us and holds a place in our hearts.
