Margaret Bell (VonKannon) Harris was born on Nov. 10, 1924, to Ernest Alexander and Mary Thelma (Roth) VonKannon and died on May 28, 2018. She was preceded in death by her parents; sister, Vera Mae (VonKannon) Funcannon; husband, Marion Daniel (Bud) Harris; and sons, Michael William Harris and Stephen Lawrence Harris.
She is survived by four sons and their spouses, John and Etta (Hastings) Harris, Daniel and Barbara (Higginbotham) Harris, George and Jo (DuMontelle) Harris and James and Micci (Ferrare) Harris. She is also survived by Stephen Harris’ widow, Barbara O’Malley. She has 12 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
Margaret grew up in Marion Heights, and graduated from Concannon High School. Shortly after graduation, with her partner Bud Harris, she became the Chief Executive Officer of her own private corporation, Harris Family Enterprises also known as motherhood. The company grew, and quickly included a board of directors with one husband and six sons.
Despite being outnumbered 7 to 1 by Y chromosomes, she managed to run her own cafe, laundry, house cleaning, and chauffer services, as well as tutoring and life-coaching departments. Her unofficial company charter was “leave the world a better place than you found it”. She carried out this mission by raising her six boys with wit, humor, intelligence, and understanding.
Margaret was active in her community of West Terre Haute, and provided 18 consecutive years of Harris siblings to the athletic department of West Vigo High school, and was a member of the Athletic Booster Club. However, her nurturing skills were not limited to only athletics. She encouraged her sons to pursue their passions in art and music.
Along with her husband Bud and several parishioners, she founded and helped build St. Leonard’s Church in West Terre Haute, a place close to her heart, where she raised her sons with a bit of help from the Sisters of Providence from St. Mary-of-the-Woods. She was part of a generation that helped whenever they could, and asked for little or nothing in return. This outlook carried through until her last days, when she died peacefully.
She even managed to charm the staff at Allisonville Meadows, making new friends until the very end. For all of the family and friends that remain, thank you for being part of her life – she loved you all. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the “Steve Harris Memorial Endowment Fund c/o The Wabash Valley Community Foundation, 200 S. eighth St., Terre Haute, IN 47807” or directly online at: www.
wabashvalleygives.com/Harris Celebration of life Thursday, May 31, 2018, from 5:30 to 8 p. m., with a Catholic service from 7 to 7:20 p.m., at Greiner Funeral Home, 2005 N. 13th St., Terre Haute, Ind. Contact online at: www.
If you found any mistakes, or you would like to add/remove to this obituary, please contact us by email: info@obituary.memorial. We never ask money for this.
