Laura M. Harper

Laurina Mignardi Harper died on December 28, 2024, at the age of 102. She was blessed with a long and happy life. She was born on December 19, 1922, in Ithaca, New York, of Italian immigrants, Giuseppe and Maria Mignardi. Growing up in the early years of the 20th century was not easy: too many immigrants, too few jobs, the Great Depression, and yes, ethnic hostility. She graduated from Ithaca High School and the Rochester Business Institute, then was hired as a private secretary to a Cornell law school professor. On November 28, 1942, she married John Harper, the son of Cornell professor, Merritt W. Harper and his wife Elizabeth. She moved to Rochester, where John was employed. She did secretarial work for a number of years, but something was missing: the college education she hoped for but knew that her parents couldn’t afford. With her husband’s encouragement, Laurina enrolled as a freshman at the University of Rochester at age 29 and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors. She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She followed this by earning a Master of Education degree.

In 1958, Laurina was hired to teach English at Brighton High School, academically acknowledged as an outstanding school in the Rochester area. She had found her niche! In 1963, she was awarded a John Hay Fellowship for study in the humanities at Colorado State College. The following year, she received a Brighton district merit award as teacher of the year and later was appointed head of the English department. This administrative position meant less contact with students and more collaboration with her department colleagues. During the following years, they worked together as a team to develop a new program in writing and electives that was considered innovative in the 1970’s. In 1975, the New York State Education Department stated that “Brighton High School had the best high school English department in the Empire State.”

When she left Brighton, the joy of retirement was fraught with fears. She had lived her dream. Now it was John’s turn. They moved to Ohio to live on the farm John inherited from his great grandfather, William Seeds, who settled in the area in 1815. There is an old schoolhouse on the property dated circa 1888 that is listed with the United States Department of the Interior as one of America’s historic sites.

Life was good until one cold December morning in 1984 when John died without warning and Laurina’s world crashed. Nine years in Ohio felt like home now, so she stayed put. Following areas of interest, she joined and participated in Friends of the Southwest Public Libraries, Beaux Arts at the Columbus Museum of Art, Grove City Arts Council, Wildwood Garden Club, Bridge Club, Grove City Cancer Thrift Shop, where she volunteered for 40 years, Concord Cemetery Trustees, Township Zoning Board and, last, but not least, a sisterhood of neighbors and friends who met regularly to sew for 44 years until the pandemic of 2020.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Giuseppe and Maria Mignardi, her husband John Harper, her sister Theresa Burke, her brother-in-law, William Burke, James T. Harper, George T. Harper, her nieces, Patricia Herrin, Abra Roberts, Beth Harper Bradley and Susan Harper Grieger, Guerry (Ace) Bowen, and her significant other, Guerry Bowen. She was survived by nieces Rosemary (James Cushman), Eileen (Thomas Justus), Mary (Charles Dyke), Kristie O’Connor and the “daughter I never had, Margaret (Peg) Mosher,” Charles Merrill Bowen, and loving extended family, neighbors and friends. Visitation will be held on Monday, January 6, 2025 from 4-7 pm at Schoedinger Grove City 4242 Hoover Rd. Grove City, OH where her funeral service will held on Tuesday, January 7, 2025 at 10:30 am. Interment will be at Concord Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please donate to your charity of choice-- someone out there needs your help