Pearl Mills Harris

HARRIS, Pearl Mills, 104, of Oak Shade in Louisa County, died March 7, 2009. She was the daughter of Phillip C. Mills and Mary Jones Mills. Born in Emporia, Virginia, she grew up in Danville and Richmond. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Samuel C. Harris; her three brothers, Randolph P. Mills, Peter D. Mills and Phillip C. Mills; and two sisters, Irene M. Cudlip and Emlyn M. Markwith. She is survived by two sons, Samuel Claybrooke Harris (Norma Bradley Harris) and Henry Mills Harris (Peggy Duke Harris); and her sister, Wilhelmina M. Antley. She leaves five grandchildren, Henry M. Harris Jr., Mary C. Malone, Kathleen M. Hurd, Elizabeth A Novak and Molly L. Boose; 12 great-grandchildren; her nieces, Wilhelmina Antley and Alice Cudlip; and nephews, Peter, Richard and Phillip Mills, Ray and Phillip Antley and Sidney and Louis Markwith, along with their families. Mrs. Harris attended public schools in Danville and Richmond and graduated from Harrisonburg State Teachers College, now James Madison University. She taught 28 years in both Mineral and Apple Grove Elementary Schools, interrupting her career to raise her family. In her long life, she was active in South Anna Baptist Church and several community organizations, was a member of the Jamestown Society and the Louisa County Historical Society, Mineral Chapter of the UDC. Louisa Courthouse DAR, Apple Grove/Cuckoo Homemakers. She traveled extensively in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. She wrote the local news for the county paper and was a partner in writing "A History of Education in Louisa County." Funeral services will be held Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 2 p.m. at South Anna Baptist Church, Pastor Steve McClary will officiate. Interment will follow in the church cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to South Anna Baptist Church, 9071 Cross County Road, Mineral, Va. 23117 or to Hospice of the Piedmont, 675 Peter Jefferson Pwky., Suite 300, Charlottesville, Va. 22911. Arrangements by Lacy Funeral Home, 6241 Cross County Rd., Mineral, Va. 23117. Visit www.lacyfh.com for online guestbook.
This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.