Obituary of Jean Parsons Harris

Jean Parsons Harris Oct. 15, 1917 - Jan. 4, 2015 Jean Parsons Harris, 97, passed away peacefully on January 4 surrounded by family after a long and active life. Jean was born October 15, 1917, in Phoenix, Arizona to her parents Marjorie Leavell Parsons and Roland Henry Parsons. In Tempe, Arizona, she attended elementary school, attended Phoenix High School, and then went on to Phoenix Junior College in the building right next door. In her early 20's she and three friends moved to Hollywood, CA, where they attended Woodbury Business School, which was located near Hollywood and Vine. While employed at Lockheed Aircraft Company in Burbank, she met Bruce R. Harris and they were married November 8, 1942. They moved to the Monterey Peninsula and resided in Seaside where they raised their family of five children in a home that Bruce and his brother built for them. After their divorce in 1955, she supported her family by working at Beattie Motors Ford Dealership (Monterey) as their head bookkeeper, Del Monte Aviation (Monterey) as their Office Manager, Thunderbird Book Store (Barnyard, Carmel) as the bookkeeper, and at Carmel Valley Ranch (Carmel) as a bookkeeper part-time. Jean was active in the community with Friends of the Sunset Center, The Forum as their bookkeeper, as a Hospice volunteer driver for six years, in the Carmel Valley Association and Carmel Foundation photography group. She played bridge at Pacific Meadows, Carmel Valley Ranch and Park Lane. She loved the arts and sang in the Bach Festival Chorus, regularly attended the symphony and theater, was a world-wide traveler, and participated in ballroom dancing competitions, as well as volunteering as an assistant teacher of ballroom dancing. Jean was a founding member of the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Meadowbrook Tennis Club (Seaside). She was an inspiration to many as a motivational speaker for Park Lane (Monterey) and a guest speaker at the Northern California Senior Tennis Association awards ceremonies. Jean's love was tennis—the game that she and her sisters played as children on clay in the Arizona desert. After taking time to raise her family, she returned to the courts with a vengeance. She belonged to several Peninsula tennis clubs and competed locally, nationally and internationally and was a USTA tennis umpire for ten years. Jean was nationally ranked in tennis, was sponsored by Prince rackets, received national Sportsmanship awards and earned two Golden Grand Slam awards that were presented to her during the US Open Tennis Tournament in Flushing Meadows, New York (2003 and 2004). In 2010 she was inducted into the USTA Nor Cal Tennis Hall of Fame. Her greatest accomplishment of all however, was raising five children as a single mother. Jean was predeceased by her parents Marjorie and Roland Parsons, ex-husband Bruce Harris, sisters Jo Snead and Margie Jones. She is survived by the love of her life Arnold Green; her children Marshall Harris, Judi Leavelle-King (Bill), Chris Harris (Laurie Meech), Dirk Harris (Karen), Kim Harris; four grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. At Jean's request no services will be held. A celebration of her life for family and friends will be held in the summer. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to the USTA NorCal Tennis Foundation, 1920 North Loop Road, Alameda, CA 94502-8081. Proceeds will be for the support of youth tennis programs throughout the NorCal section and especially in underserved communities.