Marilyn Cook Harris
Aug 5, 1927 - Sep 2, 2015
Marilyn Cook Harris passed away peacefully at home on September 2, 2015. Born to Lloyd and Catherine Cook in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Marilyn was somewhat of a miracle baby. Lloyd and Catherine were told they could not have children, and had already adopted her brother, Lloyd Junior, when Marilyn arrived. Marilyn grew up in Grand Rapids, and attended East Grand Rapids high school, 3 years behind former President Gerald Ford, where she was an outstanding student athlete. Marilyn entered Wellesley College, where she majored in Chemistry and graduated with Honors. Following graduation, Marilyn went to work in a research lab in Boston, where she met her lifelong companion and husband, Edmund John Harris, MD. Ed and Marilyn were wed in a snowstorm in November, 1950 in her native Grand Rapids. Ed and Marilyn returned to Boston while he finished his surgical residency. Their young family was started in Boston, expanded in Muncie, Indiana, and completed in Hillsborough.
Marilyn was active with her young family, volunteering for the Hillsborough Schools, the Hillsborough Concours, and the San Mateo Medical Auxillary Society. As her four children grew older, Marilyn got her Real Estate Broker’s License, and shortly thereafter opened her own real estate firm, MC Harris Realty.
Marilyn and her active family spent many weeks, year round, at their Incline Village home, skiing in the winter and boating, golfing and playing tennis in the summer. Although Marilyn was less interested in Skiing than the rest of her family, she loved the tranquility of this home, and especially enjoyed the summer activities. Marilyn was an avid golfer, and played with her many friends at the Peninsula Golf and Country club, where she was a member from 1957-1982, and then at the Burlingame Country Club, where she was a member from 1982 – 2012. Marilyn was also an avid bridge player, and served as a lector and a CCD teacher at Saint Bartholomew’s Church, in San Mateo.
Most of us, however, remember Marilyn as a superfan at any and all of her 8 grandchildren’s many sporting events. Marilyn was predeceased by her husband, Edmund, in 2012, and is survived by her children, Ann C. Harris, Nancy H. Wyatt (Andrew), E. John Harris, Jr (Leslie) and William G. Harris (Julie), and 8 grandchildren, Patrick Wyatt, Ryan Harris, Sean Harris, Kelsey Ellis, Emily Wyatt, Brian Harris, Kerry Harris and Allison Harris, and 3 grandchildren-in-law, Holly Wyatt, Kristine Harris and Zac Ellis. The family remains indebted to the wonderful care provided to Marilyn by her loving caregivers, Vai, Tau, Fafita and Ramona, and the support of the Staff at the Gramercy on the Park, located in San Mateo, where she resided until her death.
A funeral mass is being planned for December 20, 2015 at Saint Matthews Catholic Church in San Mateo, with a celebration of life to follow at the Peninsula Golf and Country Club immediately after the mass.