HARRISON Deanna DeGrey Harrison June 15, 1937 - February 21, 2018 God called Deanna home on February 21, 2018. She had fought a brave battle against Waldenstrom Lymphoma cancer. Deanna came in to this world as an identical twin to Donna DeGrey in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was a member of the LDS church. Deanna went to the University of Utah. She met Ames Harrison in Salt Lake City where he was working for the US Forest Service. Ames and Deanna fell in love and married in Springfield, Massachusetts on August 8, 1959. They fondly called each other Burt and Gina and that love carried them to six months shy of their 60th Anniversary. Deanna and Ames lived in several states making friends in each of them. Deanna made friends easily and her smile made everything all right. She was quick to make dinners for families in need, volunteered often, was active in both the LDS and Methodist church, paying tithing faithfully to both churches. Deanna believed in family and the power of prayer and had the best hugs. Deanna was blessed with four children, and if you get a chance to talk to them, they will fill you with stories of their mother that includes wisdom and laughs. Deanna loved her nieces and nephews just as her own children. Her children's friends were treated with an open door and warm hug, making her a second mom to many. She loved adventures and made a great partner in crime to Ames as they managed to see every state in the United States of America, traveled to Canada, Mexico and Europe. Adventures were not just with traveling, Deanna went on a slippery slide with her granddaughter at 74 years young, took a flight lesson at 75 with Donna and swam in the Baltic sea when she was 78. Ames and Deanna took their last road trip driving across the USA in 2014, visiting family and friends throughout the US logging in close to 10,000 miles. Deanna is survived by her husband, Ames Harrison, children, Martha (and Kelly) Bradshaw, Thomas Scott (and Joni) Harrison, Doris (and Peter) Axelson, and Ben (and Angela) Harrison, 14 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, Martha and Ruel DeGrey, her twin sister, Donna DeGrey and her grandson, Trevor Bradshaw. Memorial Services to be held Saturday February 24, 2018 at 11 a.m. at Messiah Methodist Church, 6215 Rolling Road, West Springfield, VA 22152. In lieu of flowers, a donation in Deanna Harrison's name to the Waldenstrom Foundation would be appreciated: https://www.iwmf.com/how-you-can-help/how-helphttps"www.iwmf.com/how-you-can-help/how-helphttps://www.iwmf.com/how-you-can-help/how-help
Published in The Washington Post on Feb. 23, 2018