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Judy Ponds Coulson Harris

1918 - 2017

BORN

1918

DIED

2017

Judy Harris Obituary

Harris

Judy Ponds Coulson After a long, interesting life Judy left the earth peacefully on October 4th, 2017; she was 99 years old. Born in Hamtramck of parents Anna Sadowski and Joseph Podlewski, Judy was the fourth child in a family of five. She outlived all her siblings, Arthur Ponds, Edwin Post, Lisa Turner, and Joseph Ponds. As teenagers, Judy and her siblings worked part-time in their parents' pharmacy. Judy was later employed at Michigan Bell, where she met Charles Coulson, who became her first husband and father of their two children, Sarah and Richard. After the untimely death of Charles in 1962, Judy began studying at Wayne State University. In 1966, Judy married Robert Harris, late father of Noreen and Pauline.

Upon Judy's graduation from Wayne State, she found employment as an elementary school teacher and worked for over 20 years at Mark Twain School in Royal Oak. Judy lived in the Detroit area nearly all her life and influenced the lives of those she worked with, students and colleagues alike. Imminently sociable, Judy participated in various activities such as bowling, bridge, and book clubs. As she was also gifted with artistic talent, she devoted much of her spare time to painting, water colors and oil. She enjoyed traveling, visiting many American and European cities with her dear friend Claire Elton. After her retirement in 1985, Judy volunteered at Beaumont Hospital, helping reunite patients with their misplaced objects in the lost and found department.

There will be no memorial service in the immediate future as Judy's closest relatives are geographically dispersed. Her survivors include daughter Pauline Harris Schlegel and grandson Ryen Schlegel in Salt Lake City, grandsons Jonathan and Lionel Sitruk and great granddaughter Mia Sitruk Angel in Paris, France. In the Detroit area, Judy's descendants Sarah and Richard mourn her loss, as well as niece and nephew Lisabeth and Christopher Turner, and loyal friend Claire Elton.

Published by Detroit Free Press & The Detroit News on Oct. 12, 2017.
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