After the factory closed Harrison became an outside salesman and then he started a factory of his own—Shelburn Shoes—a year after Lion Shoe closed. About eight months later America entered World War II and Harrison sold the factory so he could enlist. He had a gentleman's agree­ment with the new owner that when the war was over he could buy back half of the business, but the new owner had "forgotten" his promise by the time Harrison returned.

Blanche Friedman Gass

Harrison served as an intelligence officer in World War II. After the war he married Blanche Freed­man, an actress he had met during his tour of duty in Greenland. They settled in Newton, Massachusetts. Blanche performed in plays at the Brattle Theater in Cam­bridge, got a Masters Degree in Theater Education, and became a part-time professor of English and Drama at Tufts. Harrison and Blanche Gass had three children: Robert, Laurie, and Diane.

Harrison sold shoes for a Lynn/Swampscott man for several years. Then he opened his own business in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He eventually sold this factory to a chain, Morse Shoes, a big outfit with over 100 stores, and he was asked to stay on for five years to run the manufacturing end for the new owners. After the second or third year, he was asked to manage a group of eight shoe factories, which he did until he retired. Blanche died in 1963.

Click here to read about Harrison Gass's  experiences during World War II.

Harrison’s younger brother, Bernard (Benny) Gass became a pilot. He joined the Air Transport Command during World War II, flying transports, mainly in “the hump” from southern China into Northern India. After the war Benny married Mary Jo McElroy.

According to Harrison:

"The family promptly went into a catatonic fit. Mary Jo wasn't Jewish. She was Scottish. Nice girl. She was a photographer from Des Moines, Iowa. They had a son, David.

"Benny flew for Northeast Airlines and took up with another girl. He and Mary Jo were on the verge of divorcing but he made an irretrievable error. He got killed.

"When the Korean War started Ben and I were both in the reserves. We were both called in and we went together to volunteer. He was accepted and I was temporarily turned down. I had bursitis and they gave me 90 days for a minor operation. Benny was sent to Boeing field, Virginia (outside of Washington, D.C.), where they put him to work training young pilots. He was to go on to Korea, but within two months there was a terrible accident, his plane crashed in and Benny died. As a sole surviving son under the Sullivan Law, I was no longer eligible to go to war." 

Both Nathan and Sophie outlived Benny. Nathan died in 1967; Sophie in 1969.

   
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