On Wednesday, May 22, 2019 Charles and Marlys (Barret) Harris, devoted husband and wife of 59 years, passed away within hours of one another. Charles Harris, born December 19, 1929 in Washington, and Marlys Barret, born January 14, 1938 in Wisconsin, met in 1960 at Mt. Hermon Christian Conference grounds near Santa Cruz, CA. They were wed six month later in Mt. Hermon’s chapel.
In less than two years, their first daughter Marcia was born. By 1965, their daughters Sandy and Karen joined their cozy cottage and their family was complete.
Marlys stayed at home raising the girls, keeping house, sewing outfits, and baking cookies for the neighborhood kids who congregated in the family’s yard. Her hobbies included quilting, gardening, ceramics, singing in the church choir and outings with girlfriends.
For twenty years, Charles worked for the Scotts Valley Union School District in charge of busing and maintenance. Later he worked for Baymonte Christian School, the high school their daughters attended. His hobbies included fishing, camping, gardening and writing a memoir in his later years.
After their daughters were raised, Chuck and Marlys went into Apartment Complex management. Marlys ran the front office and Chuck handled the maintenance. Even before they retired, grandchildren came along and babysitting became another occupation that blessed the families of their daughters.
Their greatest joy in retirement was relocating with their youngest daughter and her family to the Cordilaine, Idaho where they lived for five years before returning to live in Folsom, California, close to their middle daughter and her family. In 2014, they relocated again to Placerville to be close to their eldest daughter and her family.
During the last nine years, Marlys increasingly suffered with dementia. Chuck made accommodations to compensate for her growing challenges. Likewise, Marlys provided Chuck’s connection to the printed word as his eyesight failed. Together they were able to compensate for the other’s difficulties. They lived with relatively minimal assistance until just months before their death.
In March 2019, Chuck was hospitalized and diagnosed with inoperable congestive heart failure. Ten days later, Maryls was hospitalized after suffering several grand mal seizures and diagnosed with advanced Lewy Body Dementia. Chuck and Marlys shared a hospital room at Marshal before being released on the same day. Under the care of their daughter, Marcia, their caregiver Debbie, and their Snowline Hospice team: Cardra, Dorian, Megan, Michael and Chaplin David, they were able to peacefully live out their final days together.
Throughout their lives, they were active in their Baptist church and shared an abiding Christian faith. Their illness was marked by praying together and listening to Bible readings and traditional hymns. Within three hours of one another, they left this life to spend eternity with their precious Savior.
Charles and Marlys are both survived by a sister, Robin (Harris) McDaniels and Janet Barret, three daughters, Marcia Harris Brim (Geoff), Sandy Baker (Byron), Karen Walker (Mark), seven grandchildren, Rachael Duke (Noah), Ryan Brim, Justin Brim, Amy Harris, Jarrod Harris (Catherine), Owen and Quinn Walker, and two great-grandchildren, Ezekiel and Esther Duke.
Services will be held at Chapel of the Pines, June 10th at 11AM. A private burial will be held in the VA cemetery honoring Charles’s service as a medic during the Korean War. They are remembered always for their devotion to one another, and for their many blessings to their children, grandchildren and friends. May their memory be eternal.
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