Violet "Sis" Mae Harris

Violet “Sis” Mae Coleman Harris of Chester, MD, passed away Saturday, October 13, 2012, at Candlelight Cove Assisted Living in Easton, MD, surrounded by her loving family. She would have been 89 on her birthday on October 15, 2012. Raised on Kent Island in Chester, MD, she was the daughter of the late Ellison Coleman and Sarah Rebecca Brown Coleman. She graduated from Stevensville High School Class of 1941. On July 26, 1941, she married William (Billy) Holton Harris of Chester and shared a wonderful 64 years until his death in 2006. After her husband’s return from WWII, they started the Harris Grocery Store. In December 1947, they bought a small oyster house on the Kent Narrows in Grasonville, MD. This grew into W. H. Harris Seafood, Inc. Mrs. Harris worked as the secretary and treasurer until they retired in 1984. Sis was a loving mother, partner in business, a grandmother and a great-grandmother. She was proud to teach her family values to live by and to show love and discipline. Her family meant everything to her. She spent her life working, loving, praising the lord in song and devoted to each. Sis was never happier then when she could share her time with her family. Mrs. Harris was a member of the Kent Island United Methodist Church and Kingsley United Methodist Church, where she sang in the choir for many years. She was one of the founding members of the Ladies Auxiliary of the K.I.V.F.C. and the Kent Island Yacht Club Ladies Auxiliary. She is survived by her children, a son, William Jerry Harris and his wife A. Patricia of Centreville, and a daughter Karen Harris Oertel and her husband A. Arthur of Centreville; five grandchildren, Daniel Wade Harris, Michael Jerry Harris, Debbie Oertel Schilling, Jo Anne Oertel Baker, and William Arthur Oertel; nine great-grandchildren, Mitchell and Molly Oertel, Wade and Allie Harris, Bradley and Bryan Harris, William (Billy) and Casey Schilling, and Lindsey Baker: and her sister, Phyllis Ann Coleman Winkler of Felton, DE. She was preceded in death by her husband, William (Billy) Holton Harris, and her brothers, Marion (Buddy) Ray Coleman and James (Dick) Ellison Coleman. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, October 17, 2012, at the Kent Island United Methodist Church in Chester. Officiating will be Reverend David Bennett. Friends may call at the Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home, P.A. in Chester, on Tuesday October 16, 2012, from 5 to 8 p.m. Burial will follow the service in Stevensville Cemetery, Stevensville, MD. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Kent Island United Methodist Church Building Fund, P.O. Box 308, Chester, MD 21619; Kingsley Cemetery Fund, PO Box 444, Chester, MD 21619; or Talbot Hospice, 586 Cynwood Drive, Easton, MD 21601.

Violet "Sis" Mae Harris

October 15, 1923 - October 13, 2012