Mary Harris, a resident of Signal Mountain, Tennessee, and America’s second-oldest resident, passed away on 22 August, at the age of 114 years, 101 days.
Harris was born in Ithaca, New York, on 13 May 1911, to Italian immigrants Joseph Petrillose and Concetta DelMonto. She was born prematurely, and the doctor said Mary was too small to survive.
While living in Ithaca, she met her future husband, James Richard Harris of North Lexington, North Carolina, while they were both working at her brother’s dry-cleaning business. In August 1937, they got married and eventually had two daughters: Connie Pitcher and Dixie Billingsley. The couple later opened their own dry-cleaning shop, along with a 500-acre dairy farm, with Mary serving as the bookkeeper for both ventures.
After leaving New York, they spent 28 years living in Florida before eventually retiring to Ascension Living Alexian Village in Signal Mountain, Tennessee. Her husband passed away in September 2003 at the age of 90.
At the time of her passing, she was the nation’s second-oldest resident, after 114-year-old Naomi Whitehead of Pennsylvania.
We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of Mary Harris during this difficult time.
