Jean W. (Clark) Harris

GLENS FALLS – Jean W. (Clark) Harris, 90, of Stewart Ave., went to be in the presence of the Lord and to be with her son, Jon, on Tuesday, August 11, 2015, at the Glens Falls Hospital.

Born on November 29, 1924, in Fort Edward, she was the daughter of the late Gordon J. and Gladys Irene (Roberts) Clark, Sr.

Jean was a 1942 graduate of Fort Edward High School.

January 1943 she became the youngest employee to work at the General Electric in Fort Edward and remained there until the war was over.

She was a communicant of St. Joseph’s Church in Fort Edward.  She was a charter member of Catholic Daughters of America Court Morrissey #1497 and taught Sunday school for a number of years before her marriage.

In 1949, she married William J. Harris at St. Joseph’s Church in Fort Edward.  The couple lived with Jean’s grandmother until her death when they moved to Glens Falls in 1956 to “her little house with the pink picket fence”. William died on August 10, 1999.

She attended St. Mary’s Church, and while her sons were at St. Mary’s Academy Jean took part in all their activities as well as serving as a den mother in the Cub Scouts.

In 1963, Jean joined the New York State Education of Home Bureaus and went on to hold a number of offices on a county, district, and state level. Her Home Bureaus life was centered on providing scholarships. In 1977, the New York State Federation of Home Bureaus named its 40th scholarship in honor of Jeanne W. Harris.   At her request, the scholarship was placed at Siena College in the field of Family Counseling.  She wrote the “Home Bureaus Scholarship Guideline Book” in 1973 and has been instrumental in raising more than $55,000 in scholarship funds.

Jean was employed as a sales clerk at J.C. Penney’s in Queensbury, retiring in 1984.

She was a member of Moreau Senior Citizens, where each year from January 1st to April 30th she enjoyed making May Baskets. She was a member of the Merry Mohican Square Dance Club, Moe’s Round Dance Club, and the Kevin Richards Hit Kicker Line Dance Club.  Besides all her club involvements, Jean enjoyed tending to her flower gardens, reading, completing crossword puzzles, and spending time with her grandsons, Shawn Harris (Her Sunshine) and Patrick Harris (Her Angel).

Besides her parents and husband, she was predeceased by her son, Jon T. Harris, four brothers, Gordon J. Clark, Jr., Karl P. Clark, Clyde P. Clark, Sherwood “Joe” Clark; and her sister Shirley Lee.

Survivors include her son Chaplain Lt. Col. Joel Harris and his wife, Patricia, of Charleston, South Carolina; her daughter in law, Teresa Harris, of Derry, NH; a brother, Farrell T. Clark of Glens Falls; her grandsons, David, and his wife, Jaimin, Brett, Shawn, and Patrick Harris, granddaughters Julie Jancius and husband   Blake and Theresa Harris; her great-granddaughter Laura Elle Jancius; her step granddaughter, Cheyenne Wright; her three great grand children; two sisters in law, Lorraine Knapp of Glens Falls, Carolyn Clark of Fort Edward; and several nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Friends may call on Thursday (Today), from 11 to 12 noon, at the Carleton Funeral Home, Inc., 68 Main Street in Hudson Falls.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated 1 p.m. today, at St. Mary’s Church in Glens Falls with Father Joseph Xavier Arockaisamy, presiding.

Rite of Committal will follow at St. Joseph’s Cemetery, town of Fort Edward.

The family has asked that flowers be omitted and any memorial donations be made to St. Mary’s/St. Alphonsus School, 62 Warren St., Glens Falls, New York 12801 or St. Joseph’s House of Grace, 33 Henry Street, Glens Falls, New York 12801.