Mrs. Laura C. Harris

Laura Cornett Harris was born on August 2, 1927 to the union of Ransom Cornett and Nannie Bell Olinger on Curly Fork, just outside of Hazard, Kentucky. She was the youngest child of eight children born to her parents. Laura accepted Christ as her Savior at an early age and joined Town Mountain First Baptist Church on Brown Fork, which was founded and built by her grandparents and great-grandparents. Later, she was one of the founders of St. Philip's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she was a member for over fifty-nine years. Laura's service included teaching Sunday school class and serving in the Ladies Aide Society. She was instrumental with other members in changing the format of hymns in the Wisconsin Synod by incorporating gospel and spiritual songs in the worship service. Their effort resulted in the publication, "Let All the People Praise You", available to be placed in all Wisconsin Synod churches. Finally, she initiated the celebration of black history at St, Philip's Church. Laura received her formal education at Town Mountain Elementary School and Liberty High School in Hazard, Kentucky. She entered college at age sixteen and completed the bachelor's degree in elementary education at Kentucky State College in 1947. Additionally, she obtained a master's degree in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in reading from Cardinal Stritch University in 1978. Laura gladly relinquished a graduate fellowship, based on her outstanding academic performance and practice teaching excellence, to Howard University. She also relinquished a teaching appointment in Inkster, Michigan' to marry the love of her life-college sweetheart- Nate. They were united in holy matrimony at the home of her mother on August 16, 1947 in Hazard, Kentucky. Their union was blessed with three children: Jocklyn, Cynthia, and Nate, Jr. Laura started her teaching career in Hardburly, Kentucky in a one-room school. Later, she was employed by Milwaukee Public Schools as a primary teacher in 1952. Upon completion of a summer teaching assignment at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Laboratory School, Laura was asked to join the school faculty permanently. However, her deep connection to the children and families at Milwaukee's Fourth Street School overrode the prestigious offer and she returned to her classroom. Later, she was approached by administrators from the MPS Department of Curriculum and Instruction with a request for her to assist other teachers in the district. Laura accepted a job as a supervising teacher and worked for over thirty years, bringing a "meet the needs of every child-with love" philosophy to her educational career. She had strong penmanship standards and a deep desire for celebrating cultural diversity in the classroom and school system. As a part of her educational career, she was a member of the Administrators' and Supervisors' Council. She founded, along with others, the Black Administrators and Supervisors Council, which later became the Metropolitan Milwaukee Alliance of Black School Educators. In her leisure, she enjoyed quilting, gardening, canning, sewing and decorative arts. During her educational career and in her retirement she was a gifted story-teller, specializing in African and African-American stories. For several years in her retirement, she traveled to schools across the greater Milwaukee area telling stories. Through the International Institute of Wisconsin and the Milwaukee Public Museum, she touched the lives of many children and adults with her wonderful stories and quilt displays. Being a master quilter, . several of her quilts were shown at the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. Laura Cornett Harris departed this life on April 2, 2015. She was preceded in death by her parents and siblings: Ethel Combs, Daniel Boone Cornett, Margurite Whitaker, Pearl Brown Cornett, Helen Cornett, Eliza Holden, and Bobbie Lee White. She leaves to cherish her memory her loving husband, Nathaniel. Her children: Jocklyn Smith, Cynthia (Daryl) Knox and Nathaniel Harris Jr. Her grandchildren: Adam Harris Smith, Aron Michael Smith, Jocelyn Eliza (Kevin) Jackson, Justin Alexander Knox, Jessica Lynn Knox. Her great-grandchildren: Elijah Aron Smith, Kaylen Eliza Jackson, Bailey Grace Jackson. Loved ones who will remember her include: her loving nephew, Kenneth Combs, her cousins: Essie Mae Freeman, Geneva Olinger Snow, and Mary Estell Cornett Wl1.ite, her sister-in-law, Eloise "Ella" Cornett and brother- in-law, Robert (Mary Ann) Harris. She will be deeply missed by her nieces and nephews, other cousins, and friends. Laura received exceptional care in her later years by family members and caregivers. Those loving caregivers missing her include: Emma Craig, Bernadine Sellers, Ella Turney, Danita Carter, Sheila Novin, Jacqueline Powell, and Penelope McNeice. Special care was provided by the staff of Horizon Health and Hospice. Laura Harris' life reflected true Godly principles - love and service.

Mrs. Laura C. Harris

August 2, 1927 - April 2, 2015