Harriet Ruth Pulley

Harriet Ruth Meyers Pulley was born as the second of three children to Ukrainian and Belorussian immigrant parents in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in January 1925. Known as "Tootsie" as a child, she enjoyed a home life with her parents, older brother Jack and younger sister Lenore, known as Lulu, and was close to them for her entire life. Kathryn Virgil worked for them but was and is thought of as an important member of the family, beloved by Harriet and the rest of the family. She also grew up surrounded by numerous family members on both sides, who visited frequently. After graduation from Shorewood High School, whose students included many classmates who went on to fame, such as Chief Justice William Rehnquist, close friend and actress Charlotte Rae, actress Colleen Dewhurst, Secretary of Defense Les Aspin, and neighbor and friend, actor John Fiedler (known as the voice of Piglet in "Winnie the Pooh" Disney cartoons), she went to the University of Wisconsin, but then joined the Army and served at the command and staff college at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, during World War II. There, she met George Pulley, Jr., also in the Army, and they married on November 14, 1946. She joined him in his home town of Oklahoma City, OK, where she finished her college degree at what was then called Central State College, and taught girl's gym at Classen High School. Her first child, Lewis Pulley, now of Fairfax, Virginia, was born in 1954, and she became a full-time mother and housekeeper. Her daughter, Sarah Weaver, now of Indianapolis, IN, was born in October 1960. She was a very active parent, becoming president of the elementary school PTA and she would say, a frequent chauffeur schlepping her kids to their many activities and lessons.

In the mid-1960's, she returned to Central State to get her master's degree in guidance counseling, and then worked first as a job counselor for disabled people at the state employment service, the first woman in state history to hold that job. She then worked as a counselor at Grant High School in Oklahoma City for almost 30 years until her retirement, where she helped thousands of students, and made many great friends among the staff. Immediately after her retirement, she came back to Grant as a substitute teacher, work she didn't give up until age 83 in 2008. She always enjoyed high school kids and they always loved her. In 1980, her first grandchild, Jeb Swan, now of Edmond, OK, was born. She and George adopted him as their son about 18 months later. She and George, a banker who later founded his own mortgage company, were very close and devoted to each other and she described him as her best friend. Sadly, he died of cancer in September 1988. She worked hard to raise Jeb, work, and help take care of her mother, Ethel Meyers, who lived with Harriet and George since the 1950's after Harriet's dad died. In October, 2003, she moved to Fairfax, Virginia, to be closer to Lewis and make a big change in her life. She worked right away as a substitute teacher in four Fairfax County public schools and loved the students and staff at the schools. She enjoyed living in the DC metro area, and continued her strong devotion to her family, including her children and grandson Stephen Weaver of Jackson, MI, her great-granddaughter Nona Swan, her brother and sister, in-laws, 17 neices and nephews, numerous grand-neices and nephews, one great-grand-neice, and Lewis's four foster sons and their wives and 6 children. She was well read, reading at least a book a day, always well dressed, and a positive, fun-loving, warm and giving person her entire life. Harriet was also a gourmet cook with high standards who poured heart and soul into any dinner party or opportunity to entertain guests. Over the years, even when working, she always prepared a delicious dinner for her and her family (with special help from George if it involved barbequing) and put it on the perfectly set table every night by 6. In her last years, she suffered with dementia, which slowly robbed her of most of what made her herself. She died peacefully at her assisted living residence in Reston on September 27, 2012. Harriet's funeral will be at 2 p.m. on October 24, 2012, at Temple B'Nai Israel, 4901 N. Pennsylvania Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73112, with burial at Memorial Park Cemetery in Oklahoma City. Anyone wishing to make a donation in Harriet's memory may do so to a cause of their choice, but a donation to the Cure Alzheimer's Fund, www.curealzfund.org, which spends all its donations on research for a cure for dementia and Alzheimer's, would be particularly appreciated.