Emma Lee Harris

Funeral services for Emma Lee Harris will be held on Tuesday, October 14, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. at First Baptist Church of Sour Lake. Visitation will begin at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday at the church. Interment will be at Forest Park East Cemetery in Webster, Texas.

Emma Lee was born October, 20, 1922 in Providence, Texas and died October 10, 2014 in The Woodlands, Texas at the age of 91.

She started school in Providence, Texas and moved to Orange, Texas at 11 years of age. Her family moved twice more; to Beaumont when Emily was 12 and then to Sour Lake a year and a half later. Emma Lee graduated Sour Lake High School.

At age 14, Emma Lee Joined First Baptist Church Sour Lake, Texas and remained a member until her death.

She worked at the White House Store in Beaumont, Texas, later moving to Houston and working alongside her sister Macel at the American Can Company. She would later work for NASA and was on duty until 3AM the night of the 1969 Moon Landing. She recalled that her favorite Astronaut was Alan Shepard because he was such a gentleman. After her time at NASA, Emma Lee worked as the Court Coordinator with the City of Houston for Judge Felix Stanley. After she retired, she moved to Sour Lake to care for her Mother.

Emma Lee was a member of the Houston and Sour Lake chapters of the Eastern Star and along with her sister, Opal, Emma Lee volunteered at St. Elizabeth Hospital.

Emma Lee loved to travel: From Hawaii to the Grand Tetons to the Northeast. But she didn’t limit her travels to the US. Prior to her Mother’s death, Emma Lee took Alma on a trip to among other places Greece – where of course, they had to try their hand at riding camels! She continued to travel into her retirement years until Macular Degeneration made traveling increasingly difficult. She always said, “Never slow down; when you slow down, you get old!”

Although Emma Lee visited many places during her life and enjoyed meeting many special people, her friends in Sour Lake had a special place in her heart. Emma Lee loved to entertain and she loved the card games that took center stage on the sun porch; those games often stretching into the wee hours of the morning. Emma Lee had a zest for life and she was fiercely loyal to those she loved.

She was preceded in death by Bud and Alma Simmons of Sour Lake, Texas; sisters, Billy Jean Simmons of Sour Lake, Texas, Macel Delaney, Hampshire, Texas, Opal Neel of Sour Lake, Texas; and three husbands, Olfield Gregory, Everett Denham, Vernon Harris.

Emma Lee is survived by her Daughter Lynda Koepnick and husband Bill; granddaughter Jaqueline Jones Fitzgerald and her husband Blake; one brother, BT Simmons and his wife Linda, and numerous great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.