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Remembering Hannah White and John Harrison
I want to reminisce a bit about two of my favorite people who were visited by death in the past few weeks, Hannah White and John Harrison. **** Hannah White was 90 and in the nursing home. She and her family saw death coming but everyone was still saddened when it finally came. Hannah was the aunt of my next door cousins when I was growing up in Coffeeville and while we weren't related I considered her my aunt, too. Hannah and her late husband, Frank Earl, lived in Jackson for years before moving to the Whites' old homestead in West Bend several years ago. Hannah dubbed the estate "Itchy Acres" and hung a shingle stating that at the drive that turned off the highway. Her funeral last week at the Coffeeville United Methodist Church was a reminiscing time as daughters Ann and Trudi laughed and shared stories about their mother, whom they called a "character." Most of those in attendance nodded in agreement. Hannah was a character. She was a Bohemian character and I mean that as a compliment. She was an artist who painted on whatever she could get her hands on. She made ceramics, cooked and did so much more. She loved nature and the outdoors. The Rev. Sandylee Rose said she did not know Hannah well but was told of Frank Earl driving a tractor around Itchy Acres pulling a wagon with Hannah sitting in a folding lawn chair in the middle of the wagon. She said she could picture them riding the streets of h`eaven that way. I can too and Hannah is wearing one of her brightly colored sun dresses and a big floppy hat with a bouquet of flowers tucked in the band. My sympathy to Ann, Trudi, son "Happy" and the rest of the family. **** John Harrison's death from an apparent heart attack Sunday was a real shocker. He was 76. I know you never know what a family experiences in the death of a loved one but my father died suddenly, too, of a heart attack back in 1984 and I have an idea of what the Harrisons are experiencing. John Harrison was a big man but I'll remember him as always smiling with his bright eyes twinkling. I did not have that many dealings with him but he always seemed in a good mood and happy. I first met him about 30 years ago when I was a novice ad salesman at The South Alabamian and he was working at Pearce Motor Company, the Ford dealership where he sold cars for 35 years. It's hard to believe he was younger then than I am now. He then went into the business with his son Shawn as Harrison and Harrison Insurance and Real Estate. They built a nice building on College Avenue and did well. I extend my sympathy to Mrs. Harrison, Shawn and his sister Suzzane Noble. **** I also want to acknowledge the tragic murders of the four youngsters thrown from the Dauphin Island bridge by their crazy father. I cannot comprehend how anyone- yet alone a parent- could do such a terrible thing. The incident has not received the national press attention it deserves and I have to wonder if the matter would have gotten more attention had it been someone other than a poor Vietnamese immigrant family living in Bayou La Batre.
We all need to say a prayer for the 23-year-old mother and the horrible nights and days she is going through.
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