Viola "Coot" (Saunders) Harris

Viola “Coot” Saunders Harris, was born on May 2, 1932. She was born in a log cabin in the township of Silver Creek (now Morganton, NC). Viola was the third of nine children to James Russell and Ethel Clark Saunders. 
Viola attended Salem Schools and helped her grandmother in the school lunch room when needed. She had some interesting jobs throughout her life such as sewing up the seam in the back of stockings at the Hosiery Mill, putting the rope in soaps for Estee Lauder, working at Aileen Inc. in Abilene, TX and her favorite, working in the school lunch room at the school in Merkel and making it taste wonderful! 
Viola met her love Leon Berton Harris through his best friend and they were married on December 23, 1954 at Denton’s Chapel in Morganton, NC. To this union came daughter Jackie and son Randy. She enjoyed gardening, cooking, talking (she never met a stranger), Grand Ole Opry music, her family and her church family. 
Viola was preceded in death by her mother and father, sister Azalee Fleming, sister Effie Mae Smith, brothers Earl and Bruce, her husband Leon and her dog Rusty.
Survivors include her daughter Jackie and husband Mike Ditto of Archer City, TX, son Randy and wife Karen Harris of Abilene, sister Helen Hallyburton of Morganton, brother James and wife Shirley Saunders of Morganton, sister Linda Saunders of Morganton, brother Donald and wife Brenda Saunders of Williamston, NC, grandson Jeremy and wife Jamie Harris of Stamford, TX, granddaughter Penny and husband Jaylen Stephenson of Colorado, great-granddaughters Klara and Alexis, nieces, nephews and special friends JoAnn Mashburn and Frances Parker. 
The family would like to thank her caregivers Ginny Jones, Peggy Jones and Jackie Godwin and Healing Hands for their excellent care. 
In lieu of flowers, donations in Viola’s name can be made to FUMC Merkel or Denton’s Chapel in Morganton, NC. 
A visitation will be held from 1pm-2pm, Thursday, February 10, 2022 with a Celebration of Life to start at 2pm at Starbuck Funeral Home.  Viola will be united and laid to rest with her beloved husband Leon in Morganton, NC. Graveside services will be held at 2pm Sunday, at Denton’s Chapel and Cemetery in Morganton under the direction of Sossoman Funeral Home. 

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