Memorial
Evelyn Lileah Furgerson Harris, 83, of Cedar Rapids, died Thursday May 8, 2014. Funeral Mass: 10:30 A.M. Wednesday, May 14th, at All Saints Catholic Church. Burial: Oak Hill Cemetery, Cedar Rapids. Visitations will be held on Tuesday, May 13th, at Cedar Memorial Chapel of Memories from 4-7 P.M. and after 9:30 A.M. Wednesday at the church. The Rev. John R. Flaherty and Rev. David O’Connor will officiate.
Survivors include her husband, Dr. Percy Gene Harris, and their 12 children: Bruce Anthony (Marc Boisclair) Harris of Chatham, New Jersey; David Percy Harris of Cedar Rapids; Lileah Furgerson (Lennox Randon) Harris of Cedar Rapids; Peter Christopher Harris of Tarzana, California; Philip Lee (Gricel) Harris of Evanston, Illinois; Paul Norman (Michelle) Harris of Cleveland Heights, Ohio; Mark Steven Harris of Los Angeles, California; Anne Catherine (David Carter) Harris of New Albany, Ohio; Sarah Beth Harris of Cedar Rapids; Matthew Clark Harris of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Grant Andrew (Queta Beasley) Harris of New Orleans; and Rebecca Roundtree Harris of Long Beach, California. Her grandchildren: Emily Hartfield Harris, Caroline Hartfield Harris, Corinne Hartfield Harris (and their mother, Claire Hartfield), Lark Lileah Harris Randon, Christopher Daniel Harris, Elizabeth Sarah Harris, Andrew Ryan Harris, Kathryn Pauline Harris, Evelyn Ruth Carter, Rebecca Anne Carter, David Joshua Carter, Lileah (Lily) Yamina Harris and Chad Aubrun Harris, and her great grandchild, Savannah LeAnne Carter. Her sisters: Betty Jean Furgerson of Cedar Rapids and Rebecca Sue Furgerson Sloan of Lakeview, Ohio. She was preceded in death by her parents, a sister, Martha Ann and a brother, Lee Burton Furgerson, Jr.
Lileah was born on February 23, 1931, in Waterloo, Iowa, the daughter of Lee Burton Furgerson, M.D. and Lily Nina Ferguson Williams. Lileah’s interest in music was encouraged by her parents, and at Iowa State Teachers College she studied piano. She married Percy Gene Harris on July 8, 1950. They lived in Washington, D.C. from 1950-1957 while Percy completed his undergraduate and medical degrees at Howard University. During that time Lileah worked as a clerk typist at the Pentagon. They returned to Iowa, settling in Cedar Rapids, where they raised their children and Percy practiced medicine.
Lileah was engaged in a wide range of community activities. She served on the Cedar Rapids Human Rights Commission until 1975. She was on the commission team that investigated a sex discrimination charge by two teachers who were required to stop teaching at the end of their fifth month of pregnancy. Lileah was active in Washington High School PTA from 1982-1988 and served as President in 1984-1985. She was a member of the Multicultural Nonsexist Committee in the early 1980s, which successfully attracted black teachers to the district and introduced an integration plan for the Cedar Rapids School System. Lileah was part of a committee that examined and brought about changes in the selection criteria for cheerleaders at Washington High to prevent discrimination against minority students.
Lileah also served on the advisory board of the Jane Boyd Community House, which offers a wide range of community services for at-risk individuals of all ages, and Minnesota Early Learning Design, 1988-1986, which addresses the problems of parents in crisis. She and her husband were avid supporters of the arts. Lileah was publicity chair for the Cedar Rapids Symphony in 1973-1974. Lileah was also a volunteer counselor at Birthright of Cedar Rapids.
Like her mother, Lileah returned to school at midlife, enrolling in the University of Iowa in 1988. In 1993, at the age of 62, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian and received the Dean’s Achievement Award from the College of Liberal Arts. She received a number of awards and honors recognizing her services to the Cedar Rapids schools. She also received the Academy for Scholastic and Personal Success Award and the Waypoint Pillar of the Community Award in 2011.
Memorials may be made to: Lily Nina Furgerson Endowed Scholarship Fund, The University of Northern Iowa, Foundation Development Office, 1223 West 22nd Street, Cedar Falls, Iowa 50614-0239 in Lileah Harris’s memory.