Audrey L. Harris

Audrey L. (Muggleton) Harris, 78, of Yarmouth Port, died peacefully at the McCarthy Hospice of Cape Cod on September 6, 2010. She leaves her daughter, Sandra L. Harris and son-in-law, Monte Becker; grandchildren, Emma and Eli Becker, all of Northborough and her beloved feline companions, Tigger and Nikko. Audrey also leaves special groups of friends from the Cape Cod Museum of Art, the Historical Society of Old Yarmouth and from the Philadelphia Girl's Rowing Club.

Audrey was born in London, England on May 21, 1932, the daughter of Martha L. White and James A. Muggleton. She was a child during the bombings of London in WW II and was evacuated to a blacksmith's in the countryside. This was the start of a peripatetic life.

Audrey originally trained to be a grade school teacher but found that not to her liking. She read a newspaper article about Dr. James Danielli and his biology research and became intrigued. She worked as a research assistant to Dr. Danielli in the Zoology department at Kings College, London from 1952-1962 and went to evening classes to graduate from Kings College University in zoology and the Institute of Biology in cell biology. She followed Dr. Danielli to America as a Research Associate at the State University of New York at Buffalo from 1962-1965. She then moved to Philadelphia, PA to the Institute for Cancer as a Research Associate and the Wills Eye Hospital where she was Research Director of the Cell Biology program.

For many years, Audrey and her family wanted to return "home" and so in 1972 they moved to Cambridge, England. Audrey worked as a Research Assistant at the Marshal Mammalian Embryology Department at Cambridge University. After 2 years, they returned to America. Audrey then worked as a research Associate at Stanford University for two years with Dr. Leonard Hayflick. Audrey was a Research Fellow and Professor of Biology and Biotechnology at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, MA from 1976 to 1983. From 1983-1997, Audrey returned to England to work as a Research Scientist for the Medical Research Council in London.

Audrey made many contributions to the field of cell biology. Her early work with Dr. Danielli involved perhaps the first attempts at cloning simple organisms - amoeba. Audrey's research frequently involved the micro-manipulation of cells and embryos for which she had an amazing touch. Later research centered on diagnosing defects in embryos before in-vitro fertilization implantation.

Audrey was a competitive rower. She competed for the St. Georges Ladies Rowing Club in England; she made the All England squad in 1960. She rowed at the Philadelphia Girl's Rowing Club and was captain of the club during the 1970's. She competed in many events including the 1971 Nationals.

Audrey retired in 1997 and moved from England to Yarmouth Port on Cape Cod - her vacation retreat during all of her previous years in the U.S. She quickly found a group of friends to enjoy wine, food and art. She was active at the Historical Society of Old Yarmouth where she was in charge of acquisitions and led tours of the Bangs Hallet house. Some visitors were perturbed that an English person was explaining their own American history to them. Audrey volunteered as a docent at the Cape Cod Museum of Art. She will be remembered by visitors to the museum as the very proper Englishwoman who led museum tours and the annual historic house and garden bus tours. Audrey always had a garden despite her frequent wanderings around the globe. During her retirement, she created a large English garden at her home which was the source of much pleasure for her and those she entertained there. Audrey developed a liking for American football late in life. Her family knew not to phone during a Patriot's games as she was busy watching the game with her champagne and smoked salmon at hand.

Audrey requested to be cremated. A private memorial service will be held. Donations may be made in Audrey's memory to the Cape Cod Museum of Art, P.O. Box 2034, Dennis, MA 02638.