Ruth Adelaide Harris

Ruth Adelaide Jones Harris, former wife of Floyd O. Harris, Jr, transitioned from this world Sunday evening, July 2, 2017. Born in 1925 at her family home in Katesville, NC, Ruth was an entrepreneurial woman with a strong commitment to her family, her church, her garden club, and her circle of friends. Among her many varied and interesting occupations: she served as a WW II code-breaker in Washington, then as an Executive Secretary for A&P, a newspaper area coordinator, a wedding director, caterer, pre-school teacher, eldercare helper, Amway and Avon distributor, polling place manager, and as special surrogate mother to many. She also dispensed free medical advice, being an avid life-long reader of health information and medical journals.For years, she played piano for her Sunday School class at Clairmont Presbyterian Church; performed the social “obligations” of a young executive’s wife in the 1960s; helped with Meals on Wheels, and supported her children’s interests in music, writing, and gardening. She was a great sports fan of the Atlanta Braves, Falcons, and the UGA Bulldogs. When her some of her grandchildren grew fond of UNC, she never skipped a beat nor did she let on that she’d been a life-long fan of Duke.When UNC and UGA played a football game last year, I asked her who she was going to root for. She smiled and said Duke.She is survived by her children David F. Harris and his wife, Bobbie Wagoner; Lynden Harris and her husband Richard (Rick) Lonon; Alan G. Harris and his wife Tammy Bullard; her grandchildren Cooper Harris, Noah Harris, and Taylor Harris; her brothers Howell L. Jones and Royal W. Jones; and many loving and wonderful nieces and nephews. She is predeceased by parents, Pearl Wilder Jones and Howell G. Jones, and her sisters Hazel Kearney and Rachel Fatherly.She led an active life, living mostly on her own (with some help from Alan and Tammy) until she was 89. Our family wishes to thank her many caregivers over the past nearly two years, including the doctor who originally estimated that she had three weeks left two years ago. Mama was amazing. She will be deeply missed.The family welcomes living plants and flowers, though Ruth would have said she preferred that you send a donation to the charity of your choice. Services will be held in the chapel of A.S. Turner's on N. Decatur Rd in Decatur, GA at 2 PM on Thursday, July 6. Family will receive visitors at 1 PM. If you will, please come in colorful attire to celebrate her life with us!