Joan Page Harris

Joan P. Harris, PhD

Joan Page Harris of Kailua passed away peacefully on July 12, 2025, at the age of 89.

Born on October 17, 1935, in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Joan was the only child of Horace and Rachel (Page) Williamson. The family moved from Pikeville, Kentucky, to Greenville, South Carolina, in 1942, and later to Jacksonville, Florida, in 1948.

Joan earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Florida in Gainesville, where she was a member of the Delta Delta Delta Sorority. During her undergraduate years, she also studied during the summers at Louisiana State University and Florida State University. For graduate school, she traveled north to the University of Michigan. This provided her wonderful choices when deciding which college football team to root for each year.

In 1964, while enrolled in a German reading course to satisfy a language requirement for her PhD, Joan met a fellow student named Fred Harris. He soon worked up the courage to ask her, a beautiful blond in a class of mostly males, out for coffee. She accepted, which began a marvelous relationship. After some months, Fred proposed, and the two were married on May 1, 1965, celebrating their 60th anniversary earlier this year. In 1967, she received her PhD in Zoology from the University of Michigan, and that same year, they welcomed their first son, Frederick Jr.

In 1970, the family moved to Hawai'i, where Joan developed a deep love for snorkeling, skin diving, and collecting marine aquarium fish. All spare time was spent in the ocean, occasionally with Frederick Jr. riding on her back-at times mischievously blocking her snorkel.

In 1972, the family moved to El Cerrito, California, and then in 1974 to Aurora, Illinois, bringing their aquarium and prized fish along-a feat whose logistics are now forgotten. The moves followed Fred's work with the University of Hawai'i on an experiment at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Batavia, Illinois.

While in Illinois, Joan volunteered with the Prairie Restoration Project, collecting seeds from abandoned graveyards and railroad tracks to help restore native prairie within Fermilab's main ring. Summers at Fermilab also meant cultivating 20' x 40' garden plots-three of them in the end-where she grew corn (three varieties), tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, and cantaloupe. Ever generous and with a touch of humor, she often left surplus zucchini on unsuspecting neighbors' doorsteps. It was also in Illinois that their second son, Robert, was born.

In 1976, the family returned to Hawai'i. Joan began teaching at various University of Hawai'i campuses, including an oceanography course at Windward Community College that included excursions to Coconut Island and the Big Island. With a minor in botany, she also became Director of Agretech's Orchid Project and the International Plant Research Laboratory. In 1985, she helped deliver more than 5,000 orchids to decorate a luncheon held by the Congressional Club in honor of First Lady Nancy Reagan-who personally thanked Joan for her efforts.

Joan went on to serve as a scientist for the Hawai'i Sugar Planters Association and later Dupont, and she volunteered to be on the board of Lyon Arboretum, spending many hours at the Arb. She cultivated a passion for orchids, transforming her yard into a lush nursery and serving in leadership roles with the Honolulu Orchid Society and the Dendrobium Orchid Growers Association of Hawai'i.

In the late 1990s, Joan returned to her zoology roots by raising Persian cats. She founded Pacific Paws Cattery, established the Aloha Cat Fanciers Club, and became deeply involved with the Cat Fanciers' Association. She organized cat shows over 20 years, proudly showing her own cats, and hosted cat club meetings.

Dynamic, strong, and endlessly creative, Joan was known for the joyful events she organized-Easter egg hunts complete with a giant (human)-rabbit, birthday parties with pony rides, Christmas carolers, and Irish feasts on St. Patrick's Day. At her Hillcrest home, she added a room above the family room, replaced the kitchen cabinets with koa cabinets, built a gazebo on the hillside, and dug lily ponds. She still found time to be a wonderful wife and a caring mother, who raised two fine sons.

Joan is survived by her husband, Fred; sons Frederick Jr. and Robert; and grandchildren Alina, Aurora, Hope, and Valor.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Hawaii Humane Society or the Lyon Arboretum.