Funeral services for Mary Josephine Cooper Harris, 78, will be at2:00 p.m., Monday, March 2, 2015 at Glen Allan United Methodist Church. She died Friday, February 27, 2015, at Washington Care Center, Greenville, MS. Burial will be in Greenfield Cemetery, Glen Allan, under the direction of Boone Funeral Home, Greenville.
Mary Jo was born in Delta City, Mississippi on December 31, 1936 to William Henry and Mary Blanche Cooper. She attended public elementary school at Catchings School, Delta City until the age of ten. Her family then moved to a farm on Lake Jackson near Glen Allan in Washington County. There she completed her elementary and secondary education at Chatham and Glen Allan. She attended Hinds Community College in Raymond and Mississippi College in Clinton.
She met her husband, Frank Aubrey Harris, at Mississippi College in 1957 and they were married in her home church, Lake Washington First Baptist Church, on January 28, 1959. Mary Jo was a devoted wife and mother. Her three children; William (Bill) Wesley Harris was born in Clinton; Frank Carwin Harris and Marjorie Lynn Harris Jennings were born in Starkville. As they pursued their education and careers, Aubrey and Mary Jo lived in Clinton and Starkville, Mississippi; briefly in Memphis, Tennessee, then back to Starkville and finally to her family farm on Lake Jackson near Glen Allan in the Mississippi Delta where she happily lived the last 39 years of her life. The home where she lived prior to her recent illness was built on the farm by her parents in 1953. She genuinely loved this place and its people.
Mary Jo lived a life of devotion to and unwavering faith in God. During her lifetime, she faced persistent health challenges but her happy, cheerful spirit was never broken. Aubrey recently said of his beloved Mary Jo, “Her undaunted spirit in the face of difficulty, her enthusiasm for life, and her genuine love of God are traits that I envy. Even as she suffered, she thought of God’s goodness to her.”
Mary Jo was preceded in death by her parents and lovely sister, Gwendolyn. She is survived by her husband and three children; daughter-in-law, Lana Harris; grandchildren, Carwin Cooper Harris and his wife, Shari, Brittany Harris Sherman and her husband, Blake, Natalie Harris Nichols and her husband, Josh, Callie Jennings and Parker Jennings; and great-grandchildren, Cash Cooper Harris and Aubrey Alise Sherman; and by brother-in-law, Skip Shelton and nephew, Mark Shelton. She is also survived by many friends who loved and supported her all her life and especially during the recent difficult times.
The family will receive friends one hour prior to services at the church. Reverend Tony McDonald will officiate.