Don and Mary Ellen Harp,
2016 Community Connections Honorees
Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness. ~Seneca
The combined life of Donald and Mary Ellen Harp is a story filled with kindness, compassion, joy, love and hundreds of
other words describing the best in human beings. The greater Atlanta area has been blessed to count them among our faith
community and to call them neighbors.
An Atlanta-area native, Don was born the oldest child of Donald Harp, Sr. and Doris Anna McElroy. He graduated from
Fayette County High School and Young Harris Jr. College. He received his undergraduate degree from Huntingdon Col-
lege, and his Master of Divinity from Emory University. He completed his Doctor of Divinity at McCormick Theological
Seminary, University of Chicago. Don has spent more than forty years serving the Methodist community, much of it at the
Peachtree Road United Methodist church here in Atlanta.
Dr. Harp married Mary Ellen Dendy, and the couple have two children – Allen and Robin – and are now proud and loving
grandparents. Mary Allen has served by Don’s side at each appointment and in each congregation, working in missions and
programs for decades, including one very close to Senior Connections’ heart: Meals On Wheels.
Don has had appointments in the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church at Jenkinsburg, St. Andrew
(Carrollton), Northwoods (Atlanta), Sam Jones Memorial (Cartersville), First United Methodist Gainesville, and served
for many years at Peachtree Road United Methodist. He served as Mayor Pro-Tem of Carrollton and was a member of the
Carrollton City Council. He is on the Board of Directors of Young Harris College; Wesley Foundation, Georgia Tech; and
North Georgia Foundation. He is a member of the President's Advisory Council at Oglethorpe University. He is Chair of
the Administrative and Personnel Committee of the North Georgia Conference; Vice Chair of the North Georgia Con-
ference Council on Finance and Administration; and was a Delegate to the General Conference of the United Methodist
Church and to the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference in 1988.
He received the Mary Mildred Sullivan Award from Brenau College in Gainesville. He was Chair of the Lake Lanier Task
Force of the Gainesville-Hall County Chamber of Commerce. He has been a member of the Georgia State Games Commis-
sion, was appointed to the Atlanta Olympic Committee by Gov. Zell Miller, and has served as a member of Atlanta Mayor
Bill Campbell's Advisory Committee.
Peachtree Road United Methodist Church honored the Harps in 2015 by naming the newly built youth center the Donald
and Mary Ellen Harp Student Center. Senior Connections is proud to honor them in 2016 with the Community Connec-
tions Award as a thank you for all they have done – and continue to do – in our lives.
Cover photo of Don and Mary Ellen Harp courtesy of Nicole Marane.
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