Saturday, May 24, 2008
In Memory of Jo Harrison
All sorts of us were crying Friday afternoon at the celebration of the life of Jo Harrison at First Baptist Church on 112th in Lakewood. Jo, as I wrote below, was the wife of Bill Harrison, the city's co-chair of the successful incorporation campaign and the city's first mayor. At the service, their two sons spoke movingly of her love ... of how she could garden at one moment, care for a kid who fell down and hurt himself at the next moment, and then be an elegant hostess another moment as the commanding general's wife at Fort Ord and Fort Lewis.
As I wrote below, I will never forget Jo's beaming face on the cover of the Lakewood Journal when we wrote about the voter approval of cityhood. The reception was a reminder of all of Lakewood's first days and years as a city, from former Council members Sherry Thomas, Ann Kirk Davis and Colleen Henry, to dear Bill Harrison himself.
Bill wore a tie of purple, Jo's favorite color. How appropriate for her favorite man to wear .. a man who devoted incredibly energy to keeping her at home during a prolonged illness. You could watch Bill age a year in a day, and yet he remained, as I told him, an extraordinary role model for any husband and father.
My favorite moment in the service, actually, was not a story about Jo. It was one of the Scripture readings. I'm sure I have heard it before ... but to hear another city pioneer Andie Gernon read it, I was reminded of Jo's role in the founding of our community as a unified and energized city. I took the liberty of putting the word 'city' in bold each of the two times it appears:
From Proverbs, 31: (speaking of a wife ...)
20 She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
29 "Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all."
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
31 Give her the reward she has earned,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
Andie did not even have to raise the tone of her voice at the word itself to accentuate the connection to our city. You could feel that connection in the room. The connection was there, and this passage honors Jo in the context of a city that was all the better to have known her.
Forward this post
As I wrote below, I will never forget Jo's beaming face on the cover of the Lakewood Journal when we wrote about the voter approval of cityhood. The reception was a reminder of all of Lakewood's first days and years as a city, from former Council members Sherry Thomas, Ann Kirk Davis and Colleen Henry, to dear Bill Harrison himself.
Bill wore a tie of purple, Jo's favorite color. How appropriate for her favorite man to wear .. a man who devoted incredibly energy to keeping her at home during a prolonged illness. You could watch Bill age a year in a day, and yet he remained, as I told him, an extraordinary role model for any husband and father.
My favorite moment in the service, actually, was not a story about Jo. It was one of the Scripture readings. I'm sure I have heard it before ... but to hear another city pioneer Andie Gernon read it, I was reminded of Jo's role in the founding of our community as a unified and energized city. I took the liberty of putting the word 'city' in bold each of the two times it appears:
From Proverbs, 31: (speaking of a wife ...)
20 She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
29 "Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all."
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
31 Give her the reward she has earned,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
Andie did not even have to raise the tone of her voice at the word itself to accentuate the connection to our city. You could feel that connection in the room. The connection was there, and this passage honors Jo in the context of a city that was all the better to have known her.
