Dorothy Elizabeth Harris

Elizabeth was born in Tacoma, Washington, the daughter of George Spurgeon Bahler and Dorothy Ellen Bahler (née Ridout). She graduated from Lincoln High School in Tacoma. At the age of 20, she moved to New York City, where she met and married James Harris, her loving husband for 59 years until his death in 2004. In the summer before her marriage, she achieved a tiny walk-on role in history, with her face appearing just over the sailor’s shoulder as he kissed the nurse in Alfred Eisenstaedt’s iconic VJ-Day photo.

After a few years in rural Pennsylvania, Elizabeth and James moved in 1951 to Tampa, where she lived the remaining 74 years of her life.

She was a faithful Christian, worshiping with local congregations of the Church of Christ, including Seminole, Carrollwood and, most recently, Citrus Park, and attending many gospel meetings. Since the outbreak of Covid, she had worshiped remotely, casting the broadcast services from her iPad to watch on the television.

Throughout her life, Elizabeth maintained a curiosity about the world and a thirst for knowledge. She imparted this to her children, inspiring in them a love of books and teaching them to read before they started school.

Starting with her first computer at 77, she embraced what new technology enabled her to learn and to create. Her personalized greeting cards added a special touch to her remembering of birthdays, anniversaries, and other occasions.

She was a talented seamstress, for many years sewing most of her own and her children’s clothes. This evolved into a focus on knitting and crocheting, as the many recipients of doilies and coasters tucked into those greeting cards can testify. Her handiwork also included potholders, afghans, rugs, and scarves.

Elizabeth and James loved being temporary nomads, travelling across the country with their trailer in tow. Foreign leisure travel came late for their generation. But they seized the day when it came, visiting Israel and Europe several times, squeezing every mile’s value out of rail passes. That zest was repeated on a visit to Japan when she was 85.

A loving wife, mother, mother-in-law, grandmother and great-grandmother, she was also an inspiration to all who knew her throughout her long life.

Elizabeth was preceded in death by her husband James; her parents; her brother James Spurgeon Bahler; her sister Mary Ellen Bahler; and her grandson Kevin Goff.

She is survived by her three children: James Clay (Alan Shaw), Emily Anne Goff (Wayne), and John Andrew (Julie); three grandchildren: Rebecca Kusters, Randy Goff (Megan), and Alex Harris; and eight great-grandchildren: Gabe, Anna, Emma, and Lilli Kusters; Avery, Landry, Lincoln, and Allie Goff.

Funeral services for Elizabeth will be held on Wednesday, February 19, the 102nd anniversary of her birth, at Blount & Curry Funeral Home at Garden of Memories, 4207 E Lake Avenue, Tampa 33610. Visitation begins at 10am, with the main service at 11am and the graveside observance at noon.