Obituary of Joyce Harris

Joyce Ann Phillips Harris, 66, of Roanoke died on Monday, July 19, 2010, at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital after a long battle with Rheumatoid Arthritis and related illnesses. She was born on June 6, 1944, in Eolia, Letcher County, Kentucky, and is the daughter of the late Benjamin Franklin Phillips and Floy Mullins Phillips. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by two brothers, Charles Allen Phillips and Jesse Harold Phillips, and three sisters, Audrey Roberts, Pearl Showalter, and Mildred Sentzel. Joyce had a zest for life and a wonderful smile and laugh. She loved her large family, consisting of many siblings, nieces, nephews, and cousins. She enjoyed traveling, especially going home to her mountain birthplace in Eolia, Kentucky. She spent many years with her friends at Wachovia Bank and missed them tremendously when her disease prevented her from working. Mrs Harris is survived by her husband of forty-seven years, Burley Milroy Harris, III of Roanoke, Virginia; her son and his wife Burley Milroy Harris, IV and Rhonda Harris and granddaughter, Olivia Harris of Gallatin, Tennessee; her daughter, Lisa Harris-DiGeronimo and her husband Thomas DiGeronimo of New York, New York; four brothers and sisters-in-law; Verlon and Jean Phillips, Myrtle Creek, Oregon; Benjamin and Judy Phillips, Davenport, Iowa; Kenneth and Shirley Phillips, Thomasville, North Carolina; Thomas Hoyt and Linda Phillips, Blacksburg, Virginia, three sisters and brothers-in-law, Doris and Kernal King, Davenport, Iowa, Elsie Profitt, Whitsett, North Carolina; Ella and Thomas Cromer, Christiansburg, Virginia; John Showalter, Abingdon, Virginia, and one aunt, Ruby Caudill, Thornton, Kentucky. The family will receive friends on Wednesday, July 21, 2010 from 6-8 p.m. at Simpson Funeral Home and Crematory. Funeral Services will be held on Thursday, July 22, at 11:00 a.m. in the chapel at Simpson Funeral Home, conducted by the Reverend George Stevenson with Burial in Sherwood Burial Park, Salem, Virginia. The Family wishes to give special thanks to Dr.Robert Keeley and the entire CCU nursing team of floor 7 at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.