Obituary of Sue Harris

HARRIS, Carolyn Sue “Momma Sue”, age 80 of Lebanon, passed away on July 14, 2022.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Charles and Carrie Haden; spouse, Charles J. Garibaldi; and brother, Charlie Haden. She is survived by her loving husband of 30 years, Cecil Harris; children, Karen (Garibaldi) Blevins and husband, David, Grace (Garibaldi) Engel and Charlie Haden; stepdaughter, Tamara Harris Rooney; and stepson, Jim Harris; grandchildren, Austin Blevins, Lyndie Blevins Lyons, Nicholas Engel, Alex Engel, Blake Rooney, Braden Rooney, and Taylor Harris; great grandchildren, Dom, Elliott, and Wyatt.

The Funeral Service will be held on Sunday, July 17^th at 6pm at Sellars Funeral Home at Mt. Juliet with Chaplain Sherman Reed officiating. The Visitation will be held on Sunday, July 17^th from 3pm until time of service at 6pm at Sellars Funeral Home at Mt. Juliet.

While all these dry statistics are necessary for any obituary, there is so much more to Sue Harris her family wants you to know.

Our Mother was a woman of many talents not based on any formal training, but talents that were solely the fruits of the Holy Spirit and bestowed in unending abundance by our Lord Jesus whom she loved and devoted her entire life to. Known to all the people in her life as Momma Sue, she cared for her family of friends in the same way she loved and cared for her family. One of the most evident blessings God gave her and something she will always be remembered for, is her well-known deep and abiding love of people. That ability to love and accept never knew the boundaries of blood, gender, race, creed or station of birth. Those man made labels were never a consideration that even entered her thoughts, she just loved you where you were-her favorite Song was She Loved by Jeff and Sheri Easter. 

As a Dental Assistant of 20 years, her patients always looked forward to her particular brand of care and kindness when they came to the office, she had a gift and they just instinctively knew they were being cared for by the best. And when God chose to have her move to a new profession, where others might have been hesitant or resentful not Momma Sue. Because in all things she utterly and completely trusted the road that God asked her to travel. We always called it her special ability to make Lemonade out of Lemons and that ability is something every one of us is very good at (we had the best example in front of us throughout our lives, right up to and including her transition to eternity).

After taking a lowly position in the Lamps Section of Dillard's and making it into just the place to buy your lamps (she sold lamps to Barbara Mandrell) Dillard's noticed the gem in their midst and she moved up the ranks quickly to become the Head of HR/Training and she brought that same love and care to that position. It was a well-known  fact that Momma Sue had 300+ children that she loved, cherished, and shepherded through training and the often tough environment that is part and parcel of all retail environments. It didn't matter if you were the Dock worker loading trucks or the General Manager- you were loved and cared for.

When it came time to retire from her work life, with the help of Green Hill Baptist, and Covenant Nazarene when other seniors might tend to slow down, our little Momma's hands and mind were still never idle- She ran prayer groups that prayed for the Sick and Hurting, Food Pantries to feed the hungry, and New Mom's mentoring groups over those years via a group called MOPS. These different roles gave comfort, sustenance and much needed training to guide Moms raising the next generation of the Servants of God.

All of these things she did while raising her own Children, Grandchildren, and even Great Grandchildren all while caring for and loving two wonderful husbands. Karen and I had a Room Mother that brought Cupcakes and cookies to events, a Girl Scout Mom who camped out of doors with us, and we started each day hearing and reciting this verse:

The Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:13

"I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me."

The apostle Paul was special to my Mom and she had much in common with him. Paul was steadfast in his love of God in the face of all circumstances good or bad, and he bade us to pray unceasingly in First Thessalonians 5:17, which my mother did all the days of her life. Momma also believed that that having a good day involved a conscious choice to be Happy. Today, as a family united, we choose to be happy that my Mama is in the arms of Jesus and isn't suffering anymore. Will we miss her? Yes, we will miss her like we would miss a limb were it amputated. But we are absolutely secure in the knowledge that she also armed all who knew her with rock solid knowledge that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us and that someday we will all meet again in Heaven.

Memorial contributions may be made to Second Harvest Food Bank at www.secondharvestmidtn.org

Arrangements by Sellars Funeral Home at Mt. Juliet, 2229 N. Mt. Juliet Road, Mt. Juliet, TN 37122, 615-758-5459, obituary line 615-758-8818, www.sellarsfuneralservices.com.