Obituary of Evelyn Eva Harris

It is with sadness, love and tenderness that we announce the passing of Evelyn Eva Harris, beloved mother, grandmother and great grandmother. Evelyn was born in Regina, Saskatchewan on May 8th, 1927 to Barbara and Adam Klein. She and her two sisters, Anne and Mary, were raised by their mother. As a young waitress at the Blue Bird Cafe, Evelyn caught the eye of a handsome soldier named Wilfred Harris. Wilfred, or Bill, made quite an impression by making frequent visits to the cafe to order Bovril and ice-cream. The couple were married on April 14th, 1946, just before Evelyn's eighteenth birthday, Bill having taken a couple of days AWOL to get married. Evelyn and Bill had four children, David, Judy, Ellen and Carol when they were posted to Ottawa in 1959. They found a wonderful new home in Innisville, near Ottawa. This was followed by moves to Montreal Quebec, Rivers Manitoba, and finally to Toronto. In each place Evelyn and Bill and family made friends through their keen involvement in the community. A skilled seamstress, Evelyn sewed most of her children's clothing over the years including her daughters' wedding gowns. Evelyn decided she needed to take swimming lessons at age 42 to keep up with the kids and became a lifeguard and synchronized swim coach working at Downsview School in North York, Ontario for many years. She taught herself cake decorating and was expert at making wedding and birthday cakes. She also loved camping and books, and especially reading cookbooks. She was a fantastic baker. Evelyn was always interested in art; sketching, painting in oils, then settling on watercolour as her medium of choice. She showed her work in Ontario and Alberta and was a member of the North York Group of Artists, Willowdale Artists, and the Three Generation Watercolourists. The top priority for Evelyn and Bill was always their family. As their children married and had children of their own their love and involvement grew to encompass the grandchildren and great grandchildren. They were always ready and willing to travel to visit, babysit, go to concerts, shows or school events. Theirs is a close family; Evelyn and Bill wove a web of love around and through it. As Evelyn and Bill aged, their family was there for them to lean on. Evelyn lost the love of her life when Bill passed away on his 84th birthday, April 19th, 2006. After his passing, Evelyn spent part of each year living in her home in North York close to Dave, Ellen and Carol and families and part with her daughter Judy and family in Spirit River, Alberta. In April of 2012, Evelyn moved to Spirit River permanently to live with Judy's family and became fully engaged in her Spirit River community. On May 8th, Evelyn celebrated her 90th birthday surrounded by all of her children. She had a lovely party and enjoyed every moment of it. Dave had brought her silver tea service from Oakville, Ontario and for Mother's Day she was honoured with a very special high tea. She was especially pleased with the chocolate "Surprise" cookies. Evelyn was a wonderful, loving, giving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She will be missed. Evelyn was predeceased by her parents, father Adam Klein, mother Barbara Fults, stepfather Richard Fults, her beloved husband Wilfred, and sister Anne Howe. She is survived by her son David (Theresa) Harris, daughters Judy (Harvey) Brown, Ellen (Gordon)Webb and Carol (David) Carruthers; her grandchildren Michael, Andrew and Valerie, Robb and Carolyn, Sheri, Nicole and Tara, and Emily, Andrea, Gregory and Lauren; her great grandchildren Tavish, Greyson and Rhys, and Declan and Evelyn. A Celebration of Life will be held in Spirit River on a date to be announced and in Toronto this fall.