Orderville • Brian Harris was so tall that the sewing machine he used to stitch a pair of shorts and a shirt in home economics class at Valley High School had to be propped up on blocks.

"He flaunted his work to the ladies in the class," said Lynn Spencer of his friend, who was 6-foot-7. "I think some were jealous."

Spencer delivered a eulogy Friday for Harris, whose funeral attracted an overflow crowd at the high school he attended in Orderville.

Harris, a Kane County sheriff's deputy, was gunned down last week while tracking a burglary suspect.

"We lost a great man in Brian Harris," said Sheriff Lamont Smith to the crowd of 2,000 people, nearly half of them law-enforcement officers, who gathered in the gymnasium of the school from which Harris graduated in 1987.

The service was televised in the school's theater and LDS Church wardhouses in Orderville and nearby Glendale for mourners who could not get into the gymnasium. Harris was buried in Glendale.

Spencer remembered when he and Harris threw a live skunk into the bushes of their principal's yard, a stunt that earned them a five-day suspension. Harris also loved to jam on his saxophone, played on the school's baseball and basketball teams, and was determined to bulk up so he could get into the Army. His heart didn't need to get any bigger.

"He was willing to help anyone, anyplace at anytime," said Spencer. "I see in him a great man who lived life to the fullest. He was my hero and always will be."

Harris, 41, who was known by just about everybody in the southern Utah county, was tracking a burglary suspect east of Fredonia, Ariz., near the Utah state line on Aug. 26 when he was shot once with a high-powered rifle. After a five-day manhunt by more than 300 local, state and federal law enforcement officials who scoured the area's rugged desert terrain, alleged gunman Scott Curley was captured trying to break into a house outside of Kanab.

Curley, 23, has waived extradition to Flagstaff, Ariz., where he is charged with first-degree murder.

Harris is survived by his wife of nearly 18 years, Shawna, two daughters, his parents, five brothers, a sister and countless cousins.

Harris' oldest daughter, Kirsten, 13, said during the funeral that her father was someone she always looked up to.

"Not just because he was so tall," she said. "But he was a big guy."

She said that every day when he went to work, she told him she loved him, just in case he never returned.

"I never knew that it would ever really happen," she said. "We live in a small [community]. Things like this don't happen. I miss him so bad. I'm proud of him and the other police officers."

Shawna Harris, who met her future husband at Fort Carson, Colo., while both were stationed there in the Army, thanked everyone for the support and condolences she has received and praised the police for the dangerous job they perform so well.

"They go above and beyond what should be asked with a strong sense of service," she said.

She joked about her husband's penchant for trading and said he was an expert who got plenty of practice by bringing home scavenged pieces of "treasure" for trade or barter.

"It's good I have a large backyard," she said.

Smith said his office relied on Harris' mechanical skills to fix equipment, such as radios or customize new police vehicles.

"I couldn't finance the work he did," said Smith. "He was my lifeline."

Smith said Harris was never idle. When he wasn't involved with his police work, he was active in the community, serving as a president of the Lions Club, on the Orderville Town Council, organizing the demolition derby and heading search and rescue for a while.

Harris' military experience in the first Gulf War was invaluable in forming the office's SWAT and tracking teams, said Smith.

"He could handle any situation with his words and action…even if I can't use some of those words in mixed company," said Smith. "He leaves a void that will be hard to fill."

Elder Randy Wilkinson, a member of the LDS Church's Quorum of the Seventy, said Harris and other officers "exemplify courage, pride and honor in all its splendor."

Wilkinson described law enforcement officials as a distinguished group of people who serve the community by protecting it from the "ravages of lawlessness."

Before the funeral, Gov. Gary Herbert, who attended the service, said such events are the hardest part of his job, always reminding him of the fragility of life.

He said all police officers are asked to give the ultimate sacrifice, defending the public's freedom day after day, fully aware of the danger.

"They [police] tuck their kids in and go on patrol knowing maybe they won't be there in the morning to have breakfast," Herbert said.

mhavnes@sltrib.com