Elisabeth "Els" Louise Sophia Harris

Elisabeth Louise Sophia “Els” Kaas Harris of Vancleave, MS died Thursday, January 29, 2015 at the age of 89. Ms. Harris was born February 24, 1925 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. From 1939-45 through the tender ages of 14-20 she and her family endured the privations of WWII in Nazi occupied Holland. After the War she became a stewardess for KLM, traveled the world, and came to the US permanently in 1949. In the early 50’s she met and married the love of her life, Sidney A. Harris, of New York City. They had four children, John, Nancy, Paul and David and lived in New Rochelle, NY. In the summer of ‘64 at the age of 39 the whole family moved to Greenwood, MS as her husband took over an ailing picture frame factory. There she finished raising her family and enjoyed life in the Delta. She has been a Coast resident for 25 years to be near grand kids. Throughout her life she always had a close relationship with her sister, Hanna Kaas, of Amsterdam. She was an avid reader, conversant in world politics and economics. In addition she gardened, always had fresh cut flowers, sewed award winning needlepoint, cross stitch, afghan blankets and personalized Christmas ornaments which she even did this past year. She truly never met a stranger and in short order any person she just met would be a new friend. Els was a devoted wife, great mother, and always took great pride in her children and their accomplishments which resulted in 2 MD's, an engineer and an advertising person. Her greatest joy, however, has been her grandchildren, Elisabeth, Dustin, Brooke and Taylor. She is survived by her children, David (Mary Ann), Paul (Kim), John and Nancy; her grandchildren; and her sister mentioned above. She is also survived by a niece and nephew, Els Hoekman and Paul Hoekman of the Netherlands; and her cousin, Peter (Barbara) Harris of Denville, N.J. In lieu of flowers the family would like contributions made to the charity of your choice. A Memorial Gathering will be held at Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home in Ocean Springs on Saturday, February 7th from 10 am - 12 pm. Internment at the Biloxi National Cemetery will follow at a later date.