Deborah Ellen Harris
Octpber 14, 1951 – November 28, 2016
On Monday, November 28, Deborah Ellen Harris, 65, of Waco, passed peacefully into the arms of God, five days after she entered Providence Hospice Place at St. Catherine’s. A memorial service was held at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, December 3, at Lake Shore Baptist Church.
Deborah was born October 14, 1951, in St. Louis County, Missouri, to William Alton Harris and Edith Mary Harris. Even in her preschool years, she was a Cardinals fan and a creative, musical child. Her love for singing, a passion shaped by her immersion in music at church, guided her life. After high school, she joined a Christian choral group, the Horizons, who traveled the country singing in churches. The group settled in the Houston area where Deborah received her B.A. in Humanities from the University of Houston while working as youth minister at Burke Road Church of Christ in Pasadena. Thirty years later, the group of “youth” she led count her as a spiritual guide, mentor, and deeply significant influence on their lives.
In the early 1980s, Deborah moved to Waco to accept a role at Word, Inc., where her gifts as a lyricist, poet, and singer found a home. Her lyrics were combined with the melodies of Mark Hayes, Kurt Kaiser, and many other fine musicians. A much sought-after freelance writer, her talents were both nurtured by and generously offered to the Waco community. She wrote hymns, poems, essays, brochures, and Web copy for Habitat for Humanity, Caritas, Talitha Koum, Seeds, her church, and other nonprofits, congregations, and individuals. She even wrote the Waco High School alma mater.
Three ministries Deborah loved dearly were Talitha Koum Nurture Center, Seeds of Hope, and Lake Shore Baptist Church. Their common calls to justice for the hungry, the poor, and children fit with her strong sense of God’s care for all people.
Deborah was preceded in death by her parents, William Alton Harris and Edith Mary Harris. She is survived by her sister, Ruth Ann Borrowman and husband, Joe, of Nebo, IL; brother, Ron Harris, and wife, Carol, of Cincinnati, OH; nephews, Stephen Borrowman of Milton, IL, Darren Borrowman of Pittsfield, IL, and David Harris of Covington, KY; niece, Cathy Rehm of Cincinnati, OH; cousin, Sharon Kay Kopf and her husband, Joe, of Owensville, MO; and friends in Pasadena, TX, and Houston, TX. She is also survived by her caring neighbors, who shared life with her, and her faith communities at Lake Shore, Seeds, and Talitha Koum.
Her friends wish to thank the Providence Hospice Team, who lovingly cared for her this fall.
As Deborah promised in one of her hymns, “Yes, as we break the bread and pour the wine, and as we pledge our hearts and lives; we will remember, we will remember you.”
In October, 2016, about a month before her passing, Deborah Harris had a wonderful gift, and those of us in worship Sunday morning got to witness and receive the gift, too. Members of the youth group that was at the church in Pasadena where Deborah served as Youth Minister in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s gathered to honor Deborah by singing in worship two of the songs she had taught them. Their Lake Shore gathering was the first time most of them had sung together in thirty-five years, but to our Lake Shore ears, it sounded as if they had been practicing every week for the last three decades. It is remarkable that so many of Deborah’s “youth,” who are now in in their 50s and have busy lives and families, set aside time to travel to Lake Shore in the name of love for Deborah. They know what’s important. Their presence here deepened the meaning of All Saints Day for us. We will all keep this high moment of worship in our memories and our hearts.