Winnie Harris

Mary Winifred "Winnie" Harris of American Canyon, CA, passed away March 15, 2010, at her daughter's home in Idaho after a long illness. She was born to Ellis and Lottie Starling on January 22, 1929 near Jacksonville, FL. She met and married Leonard Harris, when he was enlisted in the Navy in Jacksonville FL. They were married for 47 years. He later left the Navy and joined the Air Force and they moved around the country to Hawaii; for 3 years on Hickam AFB, Nebraska, and South Carolina with a brief stint in Texas. After he retired from the service, they settled in California but later returned to Florida a few years later. They moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area and bought their home in American Canyon in 1980. Winnie gave up her job as a telephone operator for Bell Telephone after her daughter was born. She continued working as a volunteer as a pink lady, a member of the VFW and Eastern Star on the East coast and was very active in Meals on Wheels into her late 70's on the West coast, until she became too disabled to do so. She devoted a good deal of her time and her money to her church and volunteered at the Boys and Girls Thrift Shop of Vallejo, California. She and Leonard loved to travel, camp and fish. They traveled to every state in the Union by air land or sea. They were active participants in the Good Sam Ramblers RV Club until Leonard's health prevented them from traveling. She was preceded in death by her husband, Leonard; parents Ellis and Lottie Lang Starling; sisters Gloria Padgett; and Hester Beidenharn. She is survived by her daughter Linda (Bernie) Radford, of Ririe; 2 grandchildren; and 2 great grandchildren; sister Lillian Williams of Clay Hill, FL; and brother Sammy (Mary) Starling of Georgia.