Leone Lee Wright Harris

Leone was born on April 25, 1927 in Higgins, Tx to George and Lena Gilkerson. She was raised in the northeast part of the Texas panhandle and graduated from Darrouzett High School in 1944. She moved to Amarillo to work at Shamrock Products. She married Marshall Wright on May 31, 1947. They had 4 children, Gary, Debbie, Roxie and Bobbi before moving with Marshall’s job to the Colorado Interstate Gas Company at Masterson, TX just north of Amarillo. Leone worked in the school cafeteria at Bivins until they moved to the Eva, OK community, south of Elkhart, KS. Leone provided many meals to the students at Yarbrough School through her job in the cafeteria there.

In 1978, after the death of her husband, Marshall, Leone moved back to Amarillo and found employment as the office manager for Amarillo Radiology Associates. She loved to square dance and it was at one of the dances that she met Sammie Harris. They were married on November 27, 1981 in Amarillo and she became the proud stepmother of Sammie’s 3 children, Bill, Russell, and Sammy Joe. They were married for 39 years until Sammie passed in December of 2020. Since that time, she has made her home at Brookdale Sleepy Hollow. Leone’s friendships encompassed all aspects of life and each one was special to her. She was a faithful Christian serving in the churches she attended and loving on the people and kids in various roles which included; cooking for meals, teaching in Sunday School, accompanying kids to church camp so she could work in the kitchen there and even making the communion bread for the church services back home. She was the kind of friend who would chat on the phone to comfort or help you; drive you to appointments if needed; and, of course, provide meals where needed. She enjoyed singing in the church choir and will be remembered by her children and grandchildren as always humming around the house while she did dishes or worked on her many beautiful cross stitch pieces. Granny gave us many reasons to be thankful. First and foremost is that she made sure that her family was raised in a loving home, and that included those who were brought into the family through marriage and birth. She fully enjoyed her times camping at various lakes, going on trips with kids and grandkids and joyfully tending to her family when they came home for visits and holidays. Cooking started days before anyone arrived and was happily consumed by all – especially her homemade cinnamon rolls. Bacon, eggs and coffee were offered the moment anyone walked into her kitchen in the morning, and try as we might, ours will never taste as good as hers.

She is survived by three children: a son, Gary (Sherry) Wright of Vernon, TX; Roxie (Mark) Berry of Ponca City, OK; Bobbi (Brad) Livingston of Weston, CO; step-children, Bill Harris of Amarillo; Rusty (Ron) Harris of Los Angeles, CA; Sammy Joe (Teresa) Harris of Amarillo; 11 grandchildren; 29 great-grandchildren and 6 great-great grandchildren.

Leone was preceded in death by her parents; siblings Pete Gilkerson, Chlorita Long, Georgia Easterday and Emma Sell; husbands Sammy Harris and Marshall Wright, and one young daughter, Debbie Wright.

A funeral service for Leone is scheduled for 2pm, Friday, May 17, 2024 at Griggs-Schooler-Gordon Funeral Directors at 5400 Bell St in Amarillo, with son-in-law Mark Berry presiding. Burial will follow at Memory Gardens Cemetery. The family will receive visitors for a visitation from 6-7pm, May 16, 2024 at Griggs-Schooler-Gordon Funeral Directors.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggest memorial contributions be made to Gentiva Hospice, 3232 Hobbs Ave. Amarillo, TX 79109