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Visitation:
Friday, December 7, 2018 from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm at
the First United Methodist Church of Lincoln
Service:
Saturday, December 8, 2018, at 10:00 am at the
church
Funeral home: Peasley Funeral Home, Lincoln
Obituary
Britta Borgeson Harris passed away
peacefully on November 30, 2018, at her home in
Lincoln.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 68
years, Thomas Murray Harris, who died on September
18, 2018, and her eldest daughter, Janet Jorgine
Harris, in 1974.
She is survived by her children, Jean (Doug) Brown,
LaGrange; Dr. John (Tamara) Harris, Ponte Vedra
Beach, Fla.; Julie Larson, Lincoln; Thomas (Regina)
Harris Jr., Lincoln; and 12 grandchildren, Renee
Brown, Andrew Brown, Phillip Brown, Janet Brown,
Savannah Harris, John Harris Jr., Genevieve (Nathan)
Neal, Britta (Kyle) Venstrom, Christina Larson,
Thomas Harris III, Katherine Harris and Dean Harris.
Britta was born in Chicago on October 11, 1927, the
only child of Hilma and Harold Borgeson. She
graduated from Carl Schurz High School in Chicago in
1945 and Northwestern University in 1949, where she
studied political science. In 1975, Britta earned a
master’s degree in Public Administration from the
University of Illinois. She earned a second master’s
degree in Legal Studies from Sangamon State
University (now University of Illinois at
Springfield) in 1979.
Britta and Tom Harris were married on April 15,
1950, and moved to Lincoln, where they raised their
five children. Tom practiced law for 63 years with
the Lincoln law firm of Harris and Harris. Britta
taught Political Science at Lincoln College. She
also worked for the Center for Legal Studies at
Sangamon State University as a legal researcher and
helped develop the school’s paralegal program. She
authored grant proposals as well as numerous
articles on elder abuse and the transportation needs
of seniors.
Britta worked to improve the Logan County community
in innumerable ways. She served as president of the
Logan County League of Women Voters, Abraham Lincoln
Memorial Hospital board trustee, Abraham Lincoln
Health Care Foundation board member, and Community
College Task Force member (which worked to establish
the Heartland Community College District). She was
appointed by Governor James Thompson to the Illinois
Counsel on Aging and was an appointed member of the
Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission.
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Britta served as chairman of the
Logan County Senior Citizens Center Committee, where
she obtained federal funding for the establishment
of Lincoln’s Oasis Senior Citizen Center, and later
served as its project director. She also served on
the boards of the Union Cemetery Association and
Chester-East Lincoln School, was a charter member of
the Logan County Mental Health Association, and was
active in the First United Methodist Church of
Lincoln.
Britta and Tom lived outside of Lincoln, where they
built their family’s home and Britta created gardens
and an oasis of greenery. She filled her life with
all things beautiful in nature. When Britta wasn’t
reading or writing, or researching family genealogy,
she was outside working. She instilled in her
children an intellectual curiosity, and by her
example, taught them to value family above all else.
Her grandchildren loved and revered her.
Visitation will be held on Friday, December 7, 2018
from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm at the First United
Methodist Church of Lincoln. Funeral services will
be held on Saturday, December 8, 2018, at 10:00 am
at the church with Reverend Michael Paulson
officiating. Burial will be in the New Union
Cemetery in Lincoln.
Memorials may be made to the Janet Harris Memorial
Scholarship Fund at Lincoln College, the Oasis
Senior Citizen Center, or Abraham Lincoln Memorial
Hospital.
Final arrangements are entrusted with Peasley
Funeral Home of Lincoln.
Click here to send a note of condolence to the
family of Britta Borgeson Harris
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