Born to George Wesley Roach and Elizabeth Isabel Hoot Roach, Married Lloyd Thomas Harris, 11 Aug 1914. Mother of nine children.

Lloyd told his son, Lloyd, Jr. that he chased her all over northern Ohio in a horse-drawn buggy before she finally agreed to marry him.

She worked in a factory before she married; she told her family that her foreman was the comedian, Joe E. Lewis, before he became famous.

She would smoke a cigarette and spend a day in silence once a year (not the same day); she was very superstitious.

She would look at a cloudy sky and say, "there's not enough blue there to patch a pair of overalls."

She was a loving mother and a wonderful grandmother. She required very little and gave much.

This granddaughter, Constance Marshall Byrd, remembers her as being everything a grandmother should have been. She made me feel secure and confident. I remember her spilling something on her dress, and telling me, "see, grownups do that, too." When I rinsed dishes, she told me to be sure to get anything she missed. I always knew I was important and special when I was with her. After 50 years, I miss her every day. I can still hear her telling me, "Connie Beth, don't roll my hair up in that comb...." I did anyway.............

My cousin, Ellie, who is 76, has one of my grandmother's aprons hanging in her kitchen. When I saw it for the first time a few years ago, I recognized it immediately.

My grandmother died three days after my tenth birthday and because we had moved to the other side of the world, I hadn't seen her in that apron since spring of 1959 when I was barely eight.

Funny how things stick with you. When I picture my grandmother, whom I adored, she's always in an apron.

The following are exerpts from the family email list:

When I was a child, I loved to stay with my grandmother in Dundee. She always called me "Connie Beth" and would poach eggs for my breakfast every morning. She had wonderful little jelly glasses with pictures of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck on them. She would let me comb her hair, admonishing me not to wind it up in the comb, and I did every time, getting it all tangled. She sat in a rocking chair and crocheted constantly, and she taught me. I still love variegated purple crochet thread, because it reminds me of her. I loved her so much. I had just turned ten years old when she died, and still feel the pain of that loss every time I think of her. - Connie Beth Marshall Byrd

Date: 9/1/01 From: Debbe Irene Harris

You know I remember going to the hospital. We had to go to the window to see her the night before her surgery. They wouldn't allow children in. That was my first experience with someone that I cared about dying and I remember it like it was yesterday....Debbe

From: Lloyd, Jr. (Hank) Harris Sent: Monday, August 06, 2001 10:16 PM

One of my favorites that will probably sound funny to you: It is stewed tomatoes over boiled potatoes. I love it and have since my mom gave it to me years ago.

Date: 8/7/01 From: Ellie Bailey

Good grief, Uncle LLoyd, what memories you just stirred up, ... love those taters and stewed maters of Grandmas, and had the maters over bread, and the warm coffee over a slice of bread with salt and pepper, thought Grandmas kitchen was Heaven.. love ya, Ellie

Date: 8/12/01 From: Ellie Bailey

I remember Grandma Harris always saying, "Save some for Sammy." That's why we ate anything and everything, and if Grandma put it on the table it was considered edible. She was the greatest person, I loved her dearly and she influenced me tremendously. I hope I can leave as precious memories to my children and grandchildren as she did. love ya Ellie

Date: 8/23/01 From: Ellie Bailey

Connie,

Here's a recipe I found.......

Grandma Harris' Mustard Dressing

1 egg

2 TBS mustard

dash salt

2 TBS sugar

1/2 cup vinegar

Beat egg and sugar in pan, add mustard, salt and vinegar, Cook until thick, stirring constantly. When done, remove from fire and thin as desired with pet milk.

Grandma used this on potato salad.

2011.02.05, Marian Harris Marshall writes: Byron really adored Mama. He bought her a lovely royal blue velvet dress for one of her birthdays & she said it was too pretty to wear & wanted it saved to be buried in. And she was. She deserved many velvet dresses.

From Ramblings by Lloyd Harris, Jr.:

My mother was one of thirteen children born to George Wesley and Elizabeth (Hoot) Roach. She was born on May 5, 1890, I think in Maumee, Ohio....
I don't know much about my mother's childhood. She told stories about climbing trees and doing things all normal children do, so, I can only guess that she had a good childhood. She quit school after the sixth grade, for what reason, I do not know. Maybe it was to help her mother with all the younger brothers and sisters. Females getting educated was not considered very important in those days. I do know that she worked at the Auto-Lite (Plant) manufacturing spark plugs when she got older. She claimed that the great comedian and later, movie star, Joe. E. Brown, was her boss there.
How she met my father was never discussed that I can remember.
She was a wonderful person, bearing nine children, of which, seven lived. Two girls died in infancy and are buried in a cemetery in Whitehouse, Ohio; their graves cannot be located. I think there names were Lois and Yvonne. (Lois Elnora and Vera Marie)
Gladys Eudora was the oldest, followed by me and then there were Margaret Pauline, Virgil Eugene, Richard Lynn, Byron Addison and Marian Irene. Marian was born when Mom was 42 years old, and quite worn out.
My father was not kind to her. She always remained the dutiful wife, however. I suppose mainly because she was trapped and had no other place to go. I never heard any terms of endearment between them. I think she just accepted her lot and never loved him at all in the later years. I do know, though, that observing him look at her in her coffin, that he must have cared a lot for her at one time. He told me once, that he first fell for her when he saw "that great shock of beautiful brown hair."
Mother acted as a sort of buffer between my dad's stern discipline and her more easy going ways of making us behave. Needless to say, we were a lot more comfortable around her. She could lay down the law, though, when she had to. She would make us go and cut our own switches with which she would administer the punishment.
There are so many things I can remember, very fondly, about her. One day a year she would smoke one cigarette and, of course, we would gather around to see that event. Also, one day a year she would observe absolute silence. I do not know if that was some kind of religious thing, or not.
She was a simple person, and I do not mean to imply by that, that she was simple-minded. Her wants seemed to be few and that was good, because she never got much. I never became well enough off, financially to be able to do a lot of things for her that she deserved while she was still alive. She loved baseball, and I wish I could have taken her to some of the Detroit Tiger games. And, I wish when I was living in California I could have been able to afford paying for her to come out there. She would have really enjoyed that.
She listened to the games on radio all the time. Once, or twice, she managed to take some of us kids to a Mud Hens (semi-pro baseball) game in Toledo.
She never learned to drive. I can remember my dad taking her into a field with the car in an attempt to teach her, but, it just didn't work out.
She was very soft-hearted and cried easily at disasters such as plane crashes, floods, kidnappings of children, etc.
She was an avid fan of Toledo High School football, and each year when the game between Waite and Scott was broadcast on radio, no one dared touch that dial while that game was on.
When she died, and we went through her things, we found, by the papers she had saved, that there was a depth to her that we were entirely unaware of.
She died on September 12, 1960, while on the operating table having her second leg removed as a result of Diabetes Molytus. She had been in such pain, that I think she actually willed herself to die. She is buried in Maple Lawn Cemetery along-side of Dad. I drove straight through from San Diego, California without stopping except for gas and an occasional sandwich to get to her funeral on time.