Sue Harris

Sue Nell Howard Harris died peacefully of heart failure while sleeping November 14, 2013 in Jacksonville, Fla. She had happily celebrated her 89th birthday two days before while attending family reunion events in Glennville and Savannah, Ga. Funeral services are to be held at Memorial Oaks Chapel in Brenham, Texas at 10:00 a.m. Friday morning, 22 November 2013. Burial will take place in Masonic Cemetery in Chappell Hill. Visitation will be held Thursday evening from 6 until 8 p.m. at Memorial Oaks Chapel. Sue was born November 12, 1924 in Glennville, Ga., to Robert McDuffey and Ora Lee Griffin Howard. The 1941 graduate of Glennville High School worked for the Army as a civilian employee during World War II at Camp now Fort Stewart, Ga. After the war and helping deactivate Camp Stewart, she met Hollis Eugene Harris -- a decorated Army combat veteran – in early 1946 after his Humble Oil Company career started and moved his gravity-survey crew to Glennville. They were married in Savannah, Ga., March 9, 1946; and their first move together was to Bay Minette, Ala. Sue gave birth to the Harris'' son Robert Cliffton Harris on January 6, 1947 in Ocilla, Ga., while staying with Hollis'' mother Eva Dill Harris. By the time the family returned to Alabama, the crew had moved to Mobile, Ala. Subsequent oil exploration took Sue and family to Grove Hill, Ala.; Victoria, Texas; and on to several California locations by the time daughter Mary Elizabeth Harris now Fletcher was born in Santa Rosa, Calif., December 29, 1953. Between February 1954 and January 1963, Sue would make short-term homes for her family as Hollis'' job took them to Canadian, Dalhart and Amarillo, Texas; Hattiesburg, Miss; Jackson, Ala.; Gulfport, Miss.; Del Rio, Vernon, and Hamlin, Texas. In early 1963, the company evolving into Exxon Corp. transferred the family to Harlingen, Texas and onto "Seismic Party Six." Sue and family experienced further moves within Texas – to Sinton, Raymondville, Beeville and Longview – before Exxon settled the seismic crew in Brenham. She and Hollis purchased their first house in Brenham where she lived through his loss in 2006 until her death. A founding member of Brenham''s Fellowship Baptist Church, Sue was preceded in death by her parents; brothers Robert Cliffton and Albert Gerald Howard; stepmother Edna Callaway Howard; and half-brother Donald Callaway Howard. Survivors include her children Robert and wife Donna Harris; Mary and husband Ken Fletcher. Grandchildren include Robert''s son Robert Cliffton Harris II and daughter Holly I''Lene Harris; and the Fletcher children Joshua Fletcher wife Tabitha, Faith Brown husband Chad, Sarah Purvis husband Jeremy, Rebekah Bagby husband Brandon, Micah Fletcher, Hannah Fletcher, Seth Fletcher and Leah Fletcher. Great grandchildren include Abigail, Abram and Joshua Fletcher with another on the way; Sabin and Soleia Brown; Kendra and Isaac Purvis; and Eisley and Fynnlie Bagby. Holly Harris'' daughters are Victoria Weaver and Ava Hurst. Other beloved friends and extended family members are simply too numerous to name. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Memorial Oaks Chapel, 1306 W. Main, Brenham. To post a tribute to the family, visit www.memorialoakschapel.com.