Emily Jean Harris

OREGON - Jean Harris (98) ended her long and eventful life on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. She was born Emily Jean Larkin to Earl and Alice (Pierce) Larkin on Oct. 10, 1922, in Madison. When Emily was 10, they moved to the farm at 1580 South Fish Hatchery Road in Oregon, Wis., where they maintained a dairy herd of about 50 milking cows. Emily attended the Dreyer one-room school on Hwy B until she left the eighth grade. She then attended Oregon High School (OHS) in the red brick schoolhouse, graduating in 1940. Her education continued in Home Economics Education at the Madison campus of the University of Wisconsin. There, she fell in love with her future husband, George Newberg Harris, an OHS graduate and mechanical engineering student. They were married in 1944 and moved to Oak Ridge, Tenn., where George worked on the secret development of the atomic bomb. After the war, they moved to Massachusetts and started their family. Emily began a life-long career of teaching with a nursery school-aged group when her three children were little. Because her husband battled recurring illness, they made several moves through New York, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania until they came back home to Wisconsin in 1957, settling on Madison’s northeast side. Emily assumed the role of family support as she taught Junior High Home Economics at Madison East High School. She rearranged her teaching responsibilities when her children left high school and helped to found the School-aged Maternity (SAM) program in the Madison school district. Her lifelong dedication to teaching continued with Monster Moms, the School Forest Guides, and Olbrich Garden’s Docent program. The last led to her visiting Belize with fellow docents to gather plants for the domes at Olbrich. She also taught English in the Shenyang district of northern China on trips during two consecutive years. In recent years, she volunteered at the People’s United Methodist Church Wednesday night suppers and at the Oregon Area Food Pantry. She traveled widely, and in all these activities, she made good friends whom she loved. She was an avid seamstress, ballroom dancer, diarist, mom, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Her latest of many pets she loved was Obi Wan, her dog, who adored her. She was preceded in death by her brothers, William (Bernice) Larkin and James Larkin; by her husband, George; and by her son, G. Larkin Harris. She is survived by her two daughters, Lyn (Hans) Noeldner and Dr. Cynthia Harris; by grandchildren, Dr. Tonya Harris, Rahsaan (Angela) Harris and Kerri (Russell) Phillips; and by great-grandchildren, Alexia, Leah, and Isaiah Harris and Rosilyn, Alanna and Kaylee Phillips. She was a wonderful, strong woman whose goodwill and generosity will be missed. Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com. Gunderson Oregon Funeral & Cremation Care 1150 Park Street (608) 835-3515