Sylvia Santa Harrison

1956. She was the first born of 11 siblings. Sylvia grew up in the valley aka Brownsville, TX

where she attended Homer Hanna High School before studying Business Administration at

Texas Southmost Jr. College. From a very young age, her career journey began while helping her

father run a family-owned business.

Sylvia’s savvy business experience as a youngster eventually developed into a 40-year career

with several management opportunities at various companies from McCrorys to Ashley

Stewart. Throughout her career, Sylvia was recognized by receiving multiple service awards and

accolades.

During the late 80s, Sylvia resettled in Beaumont, TX where she met and married the love of her

life, Orsbie Louis Harrison. Sylvia and Orsbie enjoyed a happy marriage for 30 wonderful years.

Sylvia took part in many interests and hobbies from reading comic books during her youth to

watching Star Trek under the guise of watching the late-night news. Sylvia passed on the art of

crochet amongst other skills from her mother to her children. Growing up along the Gulf of

Mexico, Sylvia loved beach walks, driving early to the beach with her kids to watch the sunrise,

sunsets, margaritas, Chinese cuisine, playing computer games, cruising along the coast, road

trips, casinos & slot machines, Christmas lights, and sightseeing. Christmas was Sylvia’s favorite

holiday, and she reveled in it by decorating the house from top to bottom.

Sylvia lived a life marked by resilience. Facing and overcoming the troubling things from her

past taught her to be tough and independently minded. She acquired the courage to stand up

for what’s right in the world, regardless of how it might impact her. She passed those

characteristics down to her children. Sylvia often opened up her home to friends and family in

need of refuge and helped shape the lives of those she loved. Sylvia was witty, compassionate,

authentic, outspoken, sociable, and often inappropriately funny. She was a wild one.

Sylvia quietly passed away on Sunday, December 8, 2024, of natural causes. Sylvia was

preceded in death by her parents: Samuel and Angelita Vela; two sisters: Sonia Vela and Selina

de la Fuente, her husband: Orsbie Harrison, and is survived by her three children: Selma Carney,

Diana Loomis, and Emilio Harrison; four grandchildren: Aiden and Angelita Carney, Maxine

Harrison, and Nathan Smith, and eight siblings: Sandra Suarez of Eagle Pass, Sulema Gronnevik

of Caracas, Venezuela, Samuel Vela Jr. of San Benito, Selma Whiting of San Antonio, Salvador

Vela of San Benito, Simon Vela of Brownsville, Shelly Vela of Houston, and Sarah Vela of

Nashua, New Hampshire.

Sylvia’s memorial service will be held on January 4, 2025, at 1:00 PM, at Cook-Walden/Capital

Parks Funeral Home & Cemetery in Pflugerville, Texas. In lieu of flowers, please consider a

contribution to the American Diabetes Association in her memory at diabetes.org.