- Date Of Birth: March 30, 1923
- Date Of Death: June 14, 2008
- State: Georgia
Virginia R. “Miss Jennie” Harris of Newnan, Georgia went home to be with Jesus on Saturday, June 14, 2008, after being diagnosed with terminal cancer in May 2003, then having a miraculous four year, nine month remission. Faith, prayer, laughter, her family and her friends were her medicines and the Lord was her strength. Miss Jennie was born in Hawkinsville, Georgia on March 30, 1923, the middle child of Herschel E. and Georgia Ragsdale Rakestraw.
The family soon moved to Dallas, GA where Jennie attended Whelan School and later to Atlanta where she attended West Fulton High School and Smith Hughes Vocational School. Mrs. Harris was a homemaker. Her loves were the Lord Jesus, her family, her church, singing praises to God, laughter, prayer and her cat, Jeb. She was a wonderful gardener and cook and had a fabulous sense of style. Her youthful beauty and her gift of servant-hood were the talk of all who met her. Before moving back to Georgia in 1966, Jennie and her family were active members of First Baptist Church in Lake Charles, LA.
She was a faithful member of Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Austell, GA before moving to New Smyrna Beach, FL where, from 1970 until their retirement, she worked side by side with her husband Jules Harris, who owned the San Marino motels. In New Smyrna she attended First Baptist Church, where she was very active in every facet of church life. She especially loved the choir and her Sunday school class. Two years after the death of her husband, Jennie relocated to Newnan, GA, where she quickly became active at Heatherwood Baptist, finding loving fellowship that was a blessing to her, as she was to others. Miss Jennie was predeceased by her parents, her beloved husband, Julius B. Harris, her brother, J.W. Rakestraw, her sister, Bobbie Couch, Bobbie’s loving husband, Calvin H. “Pug” Couch and her sister-in-law, Louise Luther.
She is survived by her daughters, Jan Chubb (Al), Lenoir NC; Dana Teti (Pat), Marietta, GA; Dawn Willis (Doug), Franklin, GA who took such beautiful care of her through her illness and sons, Ron Moon (Debbie) of Jackson, GA; David Messer (Karen), Lithia Springs, GA; Danny Messer (Lisa King), Douglasville,GA; children by marriage, Danita Messer, Lufkin TX; Jane Harris Stuckey (Charles), Dawsonville, GA and Burt Harris (Nancy), Ponte Vedre Beach FL; her sister-in-law, Essie Mae Rakestraw, Douglasville, GA; twenty grandchildren, including, Leah Willis, who lived with “Grandma” during her last illness; nineteen great-grandchildren with her 20th to be born January 4, 2009; many loving nieces and nephews; a multitude of praying, loving friends and neighbors including special friends, Jim and Peggie Johnson and Louise Thompson, Newnan,GA; Lillian Lucas, New Smyrna Beach, FL; Carol Molendyk, Ruidoso, NM; Virginia Pitcher, Ventura CA and Pauline Moon, Winston,Ga.; precious neighbor, Pat Starr, Newnan,GA and members of Joy and Seekers Sunday School classes. Special thanks to Miss Jennies’ loving doctor, David Hart, his nurse Melinda and the staff at Countryside Hospice.
