Vivian E. Harris

Funeral Services for Vivian E. Harris will be conducted from the Nelson-Bauer Funeral Home in Holdrege, Nebraska on Friday, August 28, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. with Pastor Ben Norvig, officiating. Interment will be in the Prairie Home Cemetery at Holdrege.

Vivian Eileen Harris, 90 years of age, of Westchester, Illinois, passed away on Sunday, August 23, 2009 at her home in Westchester. Vivian was born on February 10, 1919 in Fairview, Oklahoma, the eldest of five children of Paul Jennings and Susan (Boehs) Harris. She grew up in Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. Following her graduation from Kearney High School with the class of 1936, she went on to nursing school in Omaha, Nebraska, graduating with a Registered Nursing degree in 1940.

Vivian worked in an Omaha hospital before joining the Red Cross and then joined the U.S. Navy during WWII. She served in San Francisco, California and Seattle, Washington at the Dependent's Hospital. After the war, she volunteered to wok in the Polio Clinics in Denver, Colorado. In 1947 she was employed as a nurse at the Continental Can Company in Chicago. She continued to be active in the Navy Reserves, and was called up again from 1950 to 1951 during the Korean War. She served for 18 months in the San Diego/Los Angeles, California area, and in Portsmouth, Virginia. Following this service, Vivian retired from the U.S. Navy as a Lieutenant. She was a lifetime member of the American Legion. After her honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy, she returned to Continental Can Company working for 37 years and retiring in 1984.

Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by her sister, Virginia in infancy; her brother, Donald and a brother-in-law, Willard Jorgenson.

Survivors include two sisters: Jane Jorgenson of Omaha, Nebraska and Elizabeth Anderson and her husband, Morris of Wayne, Nebraska; one sister-in-law, Bernice Harris of Holdrege; six nieces: Debby Chin and her husband, Don of Moscow, Idaho, Cindy David and her husband, Larry of Stromsburg, Nebraska, Terry Fitch and her husband, Mike of Holdrege, Angie Burden and her husband, Randy of Peralta, New Mexico, Kim Norvig and her husband, John of Omaha, and Signe Markell and her husband, Nick of Hugo, Minnesota; one nephew, Steen Anderson of St. Johns, Kansas.

A memorial has been established in her memory and kindly suggested to the charity of the donor's choice.

Expressions of caring and kindness can be sent to the family at www.nelsonbauerfh.com

The Nelson-Bauer Funeral Home in Holdrege is in charge of the arrangements.