Celebrating the Life of

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Life’s Journey

Nancy Wilborne Harris passed away peacefully on April 11th with her children by her side. Up until the end Nancy maintained her kindness, grace, compassion, sense of humor, love of family and friends, and expressed gratitude for her long life, full of wonderful and varied experiences. If you know her, you know there was no way she was leaving this Earth without having one last birthday party and she really enjoyed sharing her day with her family and friends.

Nancy’s life can best be encapsulated by three “F” words: Family, Friends, and Fun. In her 81 years here with us, she showed time and time again that these were the most important components of her life. If you were lucky enough to be a family member or friend, you experienced a lot of fun with her.

Family: Nancy was born in Memphis, Tennessee on July 30th 1943 to Christine Wilbourne. She was raised by her grandmother’s sister Mary Ida Wilbourn Williams and her husband Uncle George Williams. During this time, she learned the value of hard work as she had many chores around the house such as washing, hanging and ironing the clothes every other day along with mopping the floor on a daily basis. Nancy has 3 siblings, Harold Jones Williams, Theresia Ann Jones, and Jacqueline Marie Jones. After graduating high school at Booker T. Washington in 1961, Nancy moved from Memphis to St. Louis to attend nursing school at Homer G. Phillips. She graduated as a Registered Nurse 3 years later in 1964 and began what would become a 60-year career of working to support her family. Nancy was married twice and had 3 children, Angela Jefferson Howard, Brian Jefferson, and Kai Harris. Nancy loved and supported her children through every phase of their life. Each one of her children will tell you that she was their best friend and was always easy to talk to and share their inner feelings. Although Nancy was the best mother, she was an even better Nana to her grandchildren. Nancy’s grandchildren are Jasmine Jefferson, DeNae Howard, Kaila Jefferson, Brian Jefferson Jr., DeAna Howard, Kai Harris II, Kairin Harris, and Kace Harris. She also helped raise her sister’s children Antonio Higgins, Demetrius LaSha Jones, and Valerie Jones who all have great memories of her helping them become the people they are today. The quickest way for a friend to no longer be a friend was to say anything negative about one of her children or grandchildren. Nancy was the ultimate protector and provider for her family and will be missed greatly!

Friends: Nancy cherished her friendships, developing them at each stage of her life, with most of these lasting the remainder of her life. At the time of her passing, Nancy still had friendships that she developed in Memphis as a young child. She regularly communicated with her alumni friends from Booker T. Washington in Memphis and Homer G. Phillips in St. Louis. Anyone who has ever had a conversation with Nancy, walked away from that conversation loving her and feeling like they just made a lifelong friend. This is the impact that she had on everyone she came into contact with. Having a 60-year work career, she made a lot of friends, far too many to name. Whether it was a friendship from Homer G. Phillips which was her first job, Barnes Hospital where she worked for 25 years before retiring, CMC Hospital which was one of her many 2nd jobs, Travel Nurses, UCLA, Odyssey House, or Waymaker – I guarantee you can pick up the phone and call any of these places and ask about her and they will have glowing remarks about Nancy Harris. She truly made an impact everywhere she went. Nancy was also heavily involved with her nursing sorority Chi Eta Phi serving as the Basileus (President) of the Zeta Chi Chapter for 4 years. She loved her sisters and they all loved her. Nancy was also a fixture in the Church of Christ having been a member of Page Church of Christ, Berkely Church of Christ and North Hills Church of Christ in St. Louis, and South Union Church of Christ in Houston. Nancy’s friendships encompassed all aspects of life, and each was special to her. From phone calls or texts, to FaceBook messages, to entertaining people at her home, to class reunions, to adventures near and far literally showing people the world thru her travel, to helping in times of sadness and difficulty, Nancy was up for it all. She was known not just for enjoying her friendships but for being a great friend as well. She was the friend who would give you her last if you needed it because she figured it was the right thing to do and because she knew that God would bless her by doing so which he did over and over again!

Fun: Nancy was a nurse by profession but was a natural born helper. It came natural to her to want to help people and try to resolve any problem they had. Because of this, her job as a psychiatric nurse didn’t seem like work to her, it was something she enjoyed doing. You could put Nancy in any room and by the end of the night, there would be a circle around her as she was truly the life of the party. There may be some people who had as much fun as Nancy but no one had more fun. She could make anyone laugh and would always brighten up your day. No matter how you felt before speaking to her, you always felt better afterwards. Nancy was a world class traveler having traveled to at least 40 states in the U.S. and at least 10 countries abroad. She started her travel once she left Memphis and got her first job taking her little sister Jackie to New York City and she never looked back. She took her children on many vacations every summer even arranging for 15-20 members of the family to go to Hawaii one year. Once she started retiring from jobs (even though she would get another one), she and Jackie became travel buddies around the world. It seemed like every other month, they would be on a cruise, or in Europe, or in Dubai, or in New York watching a play, and they never stopped.

Nancy truly lived her life to the fullest. Everything she ever wanted to do, she did! She made sure she laid the foundation for her family to stand on and be successful. She has given so much to the world and to her family and friends that no one should feel cheated. We were all extremely blessed to know her and though she will surely be missed, she will never be forgotten. Long live Nancy, you are loved and cherished by so many people and your impact will be felt for centuries to come.