Obit: Harris, Martha Jane (1924 - 2005)

Contact: Crystal Wendt
Email:  crystal@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Harris, Mowery, Whitcomb, Bell, Vieth

----Sources: Stevens Point Journal (Stevens Point, Portage County, Wis.) 21 July 2005

Harris, Martha Jane (22 July 1924 - 12 July 2005)

Martha Jane Mowery Harris

Martha Jane Mowery Harris received her promotion to depart this life and be face to face with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Tuesday, July 12, 2005. At the time of her death, Mrs. Harris was a resident of the Long-term Care Facility at Northfield Hospital in Northfield, Minn., having previously resided in Stevens Point.

Mrs. Harris was born in Indianapolis, on July 22, 1924, the daughter of Earnest and Anna Mowery. She was reared and attended elementary and high school in Owen/Curtiss, Wis. During World War II, Mrs. Harris served in the Women's Army Corps military hospitals rising to the rank of technical sergeant. She later attended St. Paul Bible College in St. Paul, Minn.

Mrs. Harris was married to Linwood Harris on Nov. 16, 1946. They resided on a small farm in Curtiss, until they moved to Stevens Point in December 1960. They cared for three foster children, Ida, Fran and Henry Whitcomb; and later had four children of their own, Brian (wife Diane with three daughters), an associate pastor in Elko, Minn., Dale (wife Kris with two sons and a daughter), residing in Hibbing, Minn., Kevin (wife Elise with three sons), an elevator engineer residing in Mankato, Minn., and Marilee (Harris) Bell (husband Wendell Bell with two sons from a previous marriage), a nurse practitioner at Saint Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield.

At the age of thirteen, Mrs. Harris received the free gift of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone by believing in Him, as the only way of salvation. During her first residence in Stevens Point, Mrs. Harris was a member of the Berea Baptist Church. She later became a member of Grace Baptist Church of Plover.

Mrs. Harris had been preceded in death by her parents, stepmother and by her husband, Linwood. Mrs. Harris is survived by her brother, James E. Mowery (wife Marabelle); four children; 11 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; one brother-in-law, John Harris; one sister-in-law, Ethel Vieth; and many nieces and nephews. Mrs. Harris had many friends in the Stevens Point area and in Minnesota. Mrs. Harris will be greatly missed by all her friends and family.

Those friends and relatives of Mrs. Harris who also have accepted Jesus Christ as personal Savior are not grieving as people who have no confidence about the future. They know that they will see their loved ones again. They know that when Jesus Christ appears for His own at the rapture of the church, the dead in Christ will be resurrected, and then those of us who are believers in Jesus Christ and are still alive will be instantly transformed and caught up to be with them in heaven to be forever with the Lord, as Mrs. Harris is today.

Arrangements will be handled by Bierman's Funeral Home in Northfield, Minn., and by Boston Funeral Home in Stevens Point. For friends and family in Minnesota, visitation will be Friday, July 15, 2005, at the Cornerstone Community Church in Northfield from noon until 2 p.m. with funeral services at 2 p.m. at the church.

For friends and family in Wisconsin, an additional service will be held at Riverside Bible Conference on Saturday, July 16, 2005, at 1 p.m. Visitation will precede the service there from noon until time of service. Interment will follow at Forest Hill Cemetery in Wisconsin Rapids. A color guard and rifle team will be in attendance at the interment for presentation of the colors, a rifle salute and the playing of taps.