Phil Farmer

Phil Farmer, retired chief executive officer of Harris Corp. and one of the Space Coast’s foremost philanthropists, died Sunday night at 80. He had cancer, said Jeanne, his wife of 56 years. Farmer led Harris Corp. from 1995 until his 2003 retirement. Afterward, he devoted his attention to guiding a pair of of Brevard County's premier institutions: the Florida Institute of Technology and the Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts. Farmer started working on tobacco and cotton farms at age 8 in eastern North Carolina, and he was a radio announcer in high school. He earned a bachelor of science in mathematics from Duke University in 1960. After working for General Electric for 21 years, he joined Harris Corp. in 1982 as a vice president-general manager in the electronic systems sector in Long Island, New York. Farmer was named vice president of the sector’s Palm Bay operations in 1986, then ascended to sector president three years later. He was promoted to executive vice president in 1991, overseeing the electronic systems and semiconductor sectors. He ascended to president and chief operating officer in 1993, then was named chairman and CEO in 1995. He retired in 2003 after he turned 65, in accordance with company policy. Farmer joined the Florida Institute of Technology board of trustees in 1994, and he served as chairman from 2007-09 and 2012-17. Phil and Jeanne married in 1962 in Schenectady, New York. They had three children, and in 2012 the couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.