Jeannette Dorothy Harris Malouf

Jeannette Dorothy Harris Malouf, 96, of Palm Harbor, Florida, died on January 7, 2026. She was born on October 1, 1929 in Montague, Massachusetts. She was preceded in death by her parents, Lewis O. Harris and Doris Palmer Harris. She is survived by her husband, Waldense D. Malouf; her children, Brenna Malouf Durden, Waldense D. Malouf, Jr. and his wife, Meg, and Matthew H. Malouf; grandchildren, Waldense D. “Max” Malouf, III, Merrill Malouf and her husband, Tim Gonzales, Spencer Durden and Savannah Durden; her brother, Lewis O. Harris, Jr. and his wife, Margaret; favorite niece, Ann Marie Harris Swain; favorite cousin, Kathleen Casey and her husband, Pete Swyrd; “second daughter” Karen Henderson and her husband, Glenn Osoling; long-time friend and “right hand” for the family, Mike Swofford; nephews, L. O. “Skip” Harris, III and Stephen R. Harris and his wife, Jacky; and many other family members and friends she adored.

Jeannette grew up in Deerfield, Massachusetts and graduated from Greenfield High School and then continued her education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, graduating in June, 1951, magnum cum laude. In her Zoology class, she met “Waldy”, fell in love with the handsome former Marine, and married him on Christmas Day, 1950. They bought the High Pastures Dairy Farm in Spencer, Massachusetts; she accepted her first teaching job at the local elementary school; and she gave birth to her three children.

But the winters on the farm were tough and so began Jeannette’s odyssey to Florida. She was the sole breadwinner for the family while Waldy attended Stetson College of Law in St.

Petersburg, but found time to raise and show prize-winning German Shepherds, help her children adjust to urban life in Gulfport, and begin a long teaching career in Pinellas County, ending at Ozona Elementary where she taught for over twenty years.

Jeannette’s love of teaching children to read lead to her pursuit of a Master’s Degree in Education-Reading from the University of South Florida in 1971, graduating the same day as her son, Waldy, Jr. did from high school, where her thesis focused on phonics. This same love also lead to the establishment of the Palm Harbor Library. She worried that “her” students in Ozona and Palm Harbor had no access to books in the summer months and so in 1978, she founded the first library in downtown Palm Harbor, located in a very small room on Omaha Street. In 1981, the library moved to the old Methodist Church and the library’s shelves and the team of volunteers, many from the Palm Harbor Civic Club, expanded exponentially, as did the number of children and families using the “Palm Harbor Library”. Support for the fledgling library was high and in 1983, Jeannette initiated, and many others fought for, a referendum to create a special taxing district which was overwhelmingly approved in 1985. Funding generated by the new district helped to build the existing library on Nebraska Avenue and supports the Palm Harbor Library to this day.

Jeannette never sat still. She loved gardening, canning her vegetables, making root beer, sewing, giraffes and zoos, dogs and cats, the dock especially with a gin & tonic, the old Virginian TV show, and most especially the hundreds of big crazy loud dinner parties with her family and all of her “adopted daughters and sons.” She loved ice hockey and was a huge fan of the “Suns”, the Tampa Bay Lightning’s first name – even winning first place one year for her signs at the games. She was very active for decades with the Palm Harbor Civic Club and, of course, with the Friends of the Library. She “learned” to love boating and flying with Waldy, and even played craps with him at the Hard Rock in Tampa. And as she got older, there were always donated books at the Library to be sorted and “marked” for sale at the Library’s “bookstore”. Rare was the visit home by her children and grandchildren that did not involve some Library activity. The Library was a part of the family.

Jeannette inspired thousands of students, children, teens and adults to read, learn, grow, give back, pay forward and participate. For her, it was always about the community. She was the best wife, celebrating 75 years of marriage with Waldy this past Christmas Day, the best mother, the best teacher, the best librarian and the best volunteer. Over the years, her community recognized this and showered her with many awards and accolades. There is no doubt she left this world better than she found it.

The family asks that instead of flowers, donations be made in Jeannette’s honor to the Palm Harbor Library at 2330 Nebraska Avenue, Palm Harbor, Florida 34683.

A private burial will be held at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida on January 22, 2026. The Celebration of Life for Jeannette on Sunday, March 1, 2026, at the Palm Harbor Library has been postponed. The rescheduling date for the Celebration of Life will be announced in the near future.