Tucson, AZ.
Going Home Ceremony services will be held at 1pm on January 27, 2021 via Zoom through Morning
Star Baptist Church with Pastor E Stanley of Morning Star Baptist Church, officiating. Annie will be laid
to rest at Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery-Marana.
Annie Laura Moore Harris was born in Sardis, Alabama to Mary Clyde (Brown) Moore-Bender-Howell
and Nathaniel Moore on 8 February, 1935. She graduated from what is now Booker T. Washington High
School, Pensacola (Escambia) Florida,
Over the course of her life, Annie held a wide variety of jobs and her work ethic was legendary: as a
young girl, she worked in a nursing home tending chamber pots; during high school, she worked as a
housekeeper; she picked cotton under the heat of the Southern sun, and she was an entrepreneur who
operated multiple private businesses. But the role many of us know her by is: Teacher.
Annie first set her heart on becoming an educator while sitting in a circle with her first-grade classmates
on her very first day of school while their teacher read to them. She was enthralled by the way her
teacher brought each of the characters to life with her voice, and in that moment she realized her life's
vocation.
She began her teacher training early: first as a teacher to her 3 siblings (Glenzo Moore, Lodree Jernigan,
and Berniece Spears); all of whom she helped raise from infancy. And when she became a mother
herself, she further honed her pedagogical skills through raising all 8 of her own children.
Alongside her teaching dreams, Annie nurtured another passion, and that was for travel. One of her
earliest jobs was at the Rand’s Bus Station in Pensacola, FL, where she traveled vicariously through the
passengers who passed through the station until she took her inaugural bus trip. Over the course of her
life, she traveled by boat, plane, train, bus, bicycle, and foot, and was just as happy to pitch a tent at
Patagonia Lake as she was to enjoy the luxury of a cruiseliner. Her travels took her all over the world
and throughout the country, and her commitment to sustaining and nurturing relationships led her to visit
friends and family whenever she could wherever they resided or were stationed.
On December 22, 1950, Annie married Sylvenus Harris, and transitioned into a stay-at-home military
spouse; one who volunteered in various capacities in her community and served alongside her husband
from home throughout the many deployments and separations that spanned 22 years of military service
and included the Korean War and Vietnam Conflict.
Annie nurtured her teaching dream throughout the years while raising their family and volunteering as a
teacher’s aide and vowed to return to school when their youngest started kindergarten.
Annie earned an Associates of Arts Degree in Early Childhood Education (ECE) from Pima Community
College in Tucson, AZ, and 13 years after enrolling in her first PCC class, Annie graduated from the
University of Arizona with a Bachelor’s degree in ECE. She served as a certificated teacher for 16 years
at several Tucson Unified School District campuses including Pueblo Gardens Elementary and Anna
Henry Elementary schools. During her tenure teaching, Annie earned her Master’s of Education degree
from the University of Phoenix. In retirement, Annie continued to teach. She served as a volunteer and
instructional coach at Pueblo Magnet High School and Tucson High, and volunteered as an assistant
supporting Reading Instruction at Pima Community College.
Over the course of a life lived 85 years, challenges will be faced. For a Black woman born into Jim Crow,
raised in a single-parent household, within a dominant culture that disdained her color and culture, the
odds of success appeared insurmountable. But by grace and good fortune, they were not. Although
Annie experienced more than her share of sorrow and loss, she was nonetheless a joyful person. She
was a conduit for life, whether she was planting and nurturing people, seeds, or ideas; they all grew
profusely under her gentle hand.
Annie was a woman of deep faith. She expressed and nurtured her faith with prayer, Bible study,
laughter, music, nature, and fellowship with others. For many years, Annie delighted in worshiping at
Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church where she was ordained as a Spiritual Mother and served as
Ministry Leader of the Mother’s Ministry. She was also the Spiritual Advisor to the Ministerial staff, and
an active participant in the Women’s Ministry.
In essence, Annie lived a very loving, giving and forgiving life. Her love, generosity, and forgiveness
were rooted in her faith in God; the same faith that sustained her and enabled her to triumph over the
odds, and to live her belief that love is indeed the greatest of all things.
In her later years, Annie remained involved in her community and has served the following organizations:
Pueblo Gardens Neighborhood Association’s Annual Martin Luther King Breakfast, Henry Elementary
Retired Teachers’ Group, Ministry Leader of the Mother’s Ministry at Morningstar Missionary Baptist
Church.
Annie was preceded in death by her Husband Sylvenus Harris, and eldest son Larry T. Harris
Annie Harris is survived by her children and parents of her grandchildren: Teresa (Schrader Harris) &
Rick Denniston, Paul E. & Elisa (Vetterato) Harris, Sylvenus S. & Sarah A. (Vaughan) Harris, Susie A.
(Harris-Wille) & Bob Wille, Timothy T. Harris, Robert N. Harris & Desert (Sivley), Joseph B & Rebecca
(Williams), Marianne (Harris) & Ido Beneli; Sister: Loddree Jernigan; Grandchildren: Jason & Jen
(Thompson), David & Sarah (Shaw), Sylvenus II, Cooper, Parker, Reggie, Caleb, Abigail, Samuel; Great-
Grandchildren: Selena, Olivia
Additionally she is survived by numerous un-official adopted sons and daughters, students, families, and
professional colleagues.
Pallbearers: .Deacons of her church family.
Memorials may be given to United World Mission, The Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona
The family of Annie Harris wishes to extend our sincere thanks to Pastor E Allen Stanley Jr., Pastor
Melissa Stanley, and the Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church Family, Tucson Fire Department
Station 19, and St. Joseph Hospital staff, and Sisters Cheryl Tillman and Wanda Reed for their prayerful
presence.
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