Doris Mary Harris

Doris Mary Harris aka "Mary" was born 20 September 1916 in Blackley, Manchester, England and died at home in her sleep 3 June 2021 in Monrovia, CA. Humor, resiliency, and unconditional love were her quintessential attributes defining her character during her 104 years of life. She was immensely loved and cherished by her family and friends. A memorial service will be held at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Monrovia California on Sat. June 26th at 9 AM.

As Mary told the story, she was 3 years old before she met her father who had been sent to combat in France during World war I, just 6 weeks before she was born. When Mary was 4 weeks of age, she was baptized at the very old village church. With a chuckle she recalled that when her father whom she had never met first arrived home from the war, she told her mother that she did not like "this man." The following year, Mary happily welcomed her younger sister Margaret to their family. They had a wonderful childhood and enjoyed a huge garden with surrounding fields. The siblings participated in many activities including Girl Guides, youth group, and Saturday dance class as they grew up.

After graduation, Mary began working at Manchester Guardian newspaper. However, when World War II began all the young people were told to find new jobs because only a small staff of old employees would stay on. Mary began working at the Town Hall Civil Defense Casualty Service on day and night duty with air raids occurring every night for years. She was very busy with typing the days following heavy raids and found her work rewarding.

Through her job she met her husband, a Polish solider Jan Aleksander Warakomski-aka John Harris. They parented two children, Valdermar Roman and Helen Julia Harris. After WWII was over, the family moved to America to join her sister. Sadly, John became ill and died in 1971 at the age of 54. Mary found it very difficult to find a job at her age because she was considered "too old." The Los Angeles branch of the Bank of Montreal hired her as a stenographer, she retired at the age of 60. She continued to use shorthand to make notes well past her 100th birthday!

Upon retiring, she spent happy times with her family but sadly in 1999 her daughter Helen Julia preceded her in an untimely death at the age of 48. Mary was a motherly figure to her youngest granddaughter Natalie who was only 11 when her mother died. Mary's son resides in Arizona. Her grandchildren Julia and Chad Harris cared for her during the last three decades of her life with the help of her loving team of caregivers Katie, Hope, Brenda, and Gilda. Her four other grandchildren Paul, Michelle, Shane, and Jason as well as her three great grandchildren Isabella, Cade and Brady were a source of great comfort and joy to her. Mary stated that her family has been wonderful to her. She was a longstanding member of Saint Luke's Episcopal church and found great comfort from the church visiting care team once homebound. She was a longstanding member of the Daughters of the British Empire (DBE), loved to garden and later in life supervise the gardening of her grandchildren. Pets always found a way to her heart and her home so donations to a pet rescue organization in leu of flower would be lovely.

Topic: Mary Harris Funeral Service
Time: Jun 26, 2021 09:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

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