Dorothy Ruth Harris

A Celebration of Life will be held at 2:00 pm on Friday, January 23, 2026 at Memory Chapel Funeral Home with Bro. Jon Wiggins of Skyland Baptist Church officiating. Burial will follow in Memory Hill Gardens. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service.

Ruth was preceded in death by her parents, Omer and Susie Haywood; sister, Christine Freeman, Elzada Martin, Cora Lee Smith, and Dixie McGiboney; brothers, Frank Haywood and Omer Gordon "OG" Haywood Jr.

She is survived by her husband, Johnny W. Harris; her son, Hank Harris (April); her granddaughter, Halle Read; 25+ nieces and nephews; 20+ great-nieces and nephews; 15+ great-great- nieces and nephews.

Ruth was born in Moundville, AL on July 4, 1941. She attended Moundville High School. After graduating, she went to Tuscaloosa to work at Bryce Hospital. While living in the forms, she was pursued by a young Marine who also worked at Bryce in the Nursing Service. This young man saw her sitting in the lobby of Bryce one day and told his friend that he was "going to marry that girl one day." She eventually agreed to go on a double date with him. A year later, when he asked her to marry him, she told him that she would "have to pray about it". Two days later, she agreed to marry Johnny Harris. They went on to spend the next 65 years loving one another. Ruth's response to that proposal really sums up the way she lived her life. She loved her family dearly, but God always came first. She was strong in her faith and spent her life serving God. She lived life by the example of Christ and led her husband and son to do the same.

Ruth had a passion for teaching and attended college classes to obtain her teaching credentials. She taught 3 and 4 year old Kindergarten classes at Tuscaloosa Christian School for many years. She attended Cottondale Baptist Church for many years and, later, attended Skyland Baptist Church. She was a wonderful wife, mother, and homemaker. Her other passions included collecting dolls, raising birds, working in her yard and flower beds, and sewing. She was also an avid reader of books on God and Faith.

While the loss of Ruth has been painful for the family that she left behind, they take comfort in knowing that she is now in her heavenly home and healed.

Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV) "For I know the thought that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you." And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."