6.  Naomi Frances Harris

Daughter of Mary and Carl Harris

Naomi Harris was born May 6, 1924 in Lawton, Oklahoma.  She was the third child and second daughter of Mary and Carl Harris.  She lived with her parents and siblings first in Lawton, briefly in Ft. Smith, Arkansas and then in Oklahoma City.  She attended school in the Oklahoma City school system. Here are a few pictures of her as a young child.  In the first picture she looks about 3 or 4 years old.

In this second one, she is about 13 years old.

In 1943 she married Henry Forbis Bonner.  They were married until 1949 and had one daughter, Sharon.
Naomi was employed all of her life.  Initially, she worked in a photography studio in Oklahoma City named Bricker Studio.  Then she worked at a TV station in a clerical position.  She then went to Tinker Air Force Base in Midwest City Oklahoma.  She worked in the photo lab where in addition to photos, printed circuits were made there.  She retired from Tinker after 25 years.  She then moved from Midwest City to Oklahoma City were she lived until 2011 when she passed away.  She always had flowers overflowing in her flower beds.  She loved planting them and tending them.

















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5.  Freda Mae Harris

Daughter of Mary and Carl Harris

Freda Mae Harris was born February 12, 1922 in Lawton, Oklahoma.  I don't really know much about her early childhood.  What I remember Nannie (Mary) saying was that Freda was sick a lot as a child.  I'm sure Nannie paid a lot of attention to the problems Freda may have had and protected her.  I have this very pretty picture of Freda and her sister Naomi.  In the picture Freda looks really sweet and pretty.   That is Freda sitting on the left.  I estimate the year to be about 1930 when Freda would have been 8 years old and Naomi would have been 6 years old.

As sisters will do, I remember hearing that Freda and her sister argued and fussed with each other quite a bit.  They look pretty happy with each other in this photo.  Being close in age, I'll bet they were pretty competitive with each other.

Here's another picture with Freda and her sister Naomi.  They are about 16 and 14 and working as car hops at Jimmie O'Donnell's Drive-In on N. E. 23rd Street in Oklahoma City.  The car hops are the girls wearing black slacks and white blouses.  Freda is the second car hop on the right and Naomi is the first one on the left.

I don't recall that Freda worked outside the home when she was older.  Her Social Security Death Index indicates that her Social Security card was issued before 1951.   Freda married Ross (Buddy) Bonner Jr. on June 5, 1946 in El Reno, Oklahoma.  I remember Buddy showing me their marriage certificate.  I have never seen one so pretty.  It was in a pink folding frame and the certificate was specially printed. Freda and Buddy had two sons, Joe and Gary.  Here's a nice picture of the four of them.

 Throughout her life Freda and Buddy were very involved in activities related to the American Legion, the Forty and Eight, the Oklahoma Cerebral Palsy Center and many more.  Freda was very attentive and supportive of her parents, Mary and Carl Harris as they got older.  In fact, after Carl died Mary lived next door to Freda and Buddy.  Freda would take Mary to have her hair done, to the grocery store, to doctor appointments and to visit friends and family.  She was always there for Mary.

Freda died on June 30, 2008 and is buried at Sunnylane Cemetery in Del City, Oklahoma. 

4.  Lloyd John Harris

First Child of Mary and Carl Harris

Lloyd John Harris was born November 3, 1919 in Oklahoma.  Lloyd's death certificate states he was born in Lawton, Oklahoma.  However, many times Mary (Nannie) talked about walking with her baby (Lloyd) to the railway station to pick up coal that the train engineer dropped off.  She said that was in Creta, Oklahoma.  Creta is in Jackson county Oklahoma.   Her trips to pick up the coal would have been in November and December 1919 because on the 1920 census, the family was living in Lawton, Comanche, Oklahoma.  On that census, Lloyd was 2 months old.  The census was recorded January 20, 1920.

In 1930, Lloyd lived with his parents and siblings in Oklahoma City.  In 1940, he was listed with his family on 8th Street in Oklahoma City, but then his name was crossed out.  I found Lloyd in 1940 in Oklahoma City with his wife, who was unnamed.  Both were age 20 and they lived on N. E. 14th Street in Oklahoma City. This 1940 census was recorded in April 1940.

Lloyd had married Louise George on May 6, 1939 in Oklahoma City.  Louise was from Custer county Oklahoma.  The wife who was unnamed on the 1940 census was noted to be from Custer county Oklahoma.  Lloyd and Louise had one daughter, Eva Marie Harris who was born May 2, 1940 in Oklahoma City, which would have been very shortly after the 1940 census was recorded.  Here's a cute picture of Eva when she was a baby.

Lloyd and Louise were not married too long and then divorced.  Lloyd was married a few other times, but Eva was the only child he had.

During World War II, Lloyd served with the US Navy Seebees in the Pacific. After that, for all of his adult life, Lloyd was a Police Officer for the Oklahoma City Police Dept.  I found that he served from 1951 until 1971.  He is listed in the book,  Oklahoma Justice:  The Oklahoma City Police, a Century of Gunfighters, Gangsters & Terrorists.  After he retired from the police force, he worked as a Security Guard at a hospital in Oklahoma City.

I recall that over the years, Lloyd lived with Mary and Carl on various occasions.  I particularly remember that around 1951, he lived with them on Lottie Street in Oklahoma City.  I know that because my Mother and I also lived there with them.  At the time, I remember that Lloyd always dressed well, wore lots of after-shave lotion and drove a fancy car.  His car was a 1951 Pontiac that he parked toward the back of the house so that no one could scratch it or even touch it.  He was very particular about that car.  Here's a car that looks just like his black Pontiac.  The cars he had after this one were also Pontiac's.

I don't have any photos of Lloyd as a child, but here's a really nice one of Lloyd and his daughter Eva.  I think it was taken about 1966 in Oklahoma City on the occasion of the 50th Wedding Anniversary of Mary and Carl.

Here's another photo, also taken in 1966 at the Anniversary party.  Left to right:  his brother Tebe,  sister Freda, mother Mary,  sister Naomi, Lloyd, and his father Carl.

Lloyd was always a friendly Uncle.  He came to all the family events, but otherwise he seemed to stay to himself.  I'm sure he was busy and involved in his work as a Police Officer.  Lloyd lived in Tecumseh OK for about the last 20 years of his life.  He died in his home on August 30, 1999.  He is buried at Arlington Memory Gardens in Midwest City, Oklahoma.  His grave is next to his parents Mary and Carl Harris.

3.  Mary Alexander Marries Carl Harris

Mary Alexander married Carl Harris on December 29, 1916 in Headrick, Oklahoma.  They were married by the Justice of the Peace, J. E. Ernst in the home of Mrs. Marsh.  Witnesses were Mrs. Geo. Harris and Mrs. Lena Blair, both of Headrick.  Here is a copy of their marriage license.

Of the people named on the certificate, besides Mary and Carl, the only one I recognize is Mrs. Geo. Harris.  That would be Annie Harris, Carl's step-mother.  Carl's mother died in 1904 and his father George remarried in 1910.

An interesting thing about this marriage certificate is the ages of Carl and Mary.  Carl is listed as age 21 when in fact in 1916, Carl would have been 16.  Mary is listed as age 19 and she would have been age 18.  The only photo I have of Mary and Carl at a young age is the one I posted in Post #2.

Mary and Carl went on to have four children.  Lloyd was born in 1919,  Freda was born in 1922, Naomi was born in 1924 and Tebe was born  in 1930.  I'll get my pictures of their children and post them.  All four were handsome children and successful in their life persuits.

No. 2- A Beautiful Picture of Mary

I had planned to go through Mary's life in chronological order.  However, I will deviate and present one of the very best photos I have of her.  This photo was taken in 1990 when Mary was 92 years old and she is looking great.  She lived to be 100 and still looked just as pretty.

                                         
                                           Mary Marie Harris, age 92 in 1990

Very Nice.

No. 1 - Mary Marie Harris

Mary Marie Harris, my maternal grandmother,  was born Mary Marie Alexander to Luther Alexander and Mattie Francis Hurst on April 21, 1898 in Woodford, Oklahoma, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory. Mary had three siblings, Gertrude who was born November 19, 1900.  Her brother Clyde was born in 1902 and her brother Dow was born in 1903.  Mary's father Luther died between 1903 and 1910.  Clyde also died between 1903 and 1910.

In 1900 Mary lived with her sister Gertrude and their parents Mattie and Luther in Township 2, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory.  At the time Luther's brother, Dempsy also lived with them.  Then in 1910 Mary, Gertrude and Dow lived with only their mother Mattie in Noble, Cleveland County Oklahoma.  They lived with Mattie's brother, Thomas Hurst.  Luther died sometime after 1903, the year that Dow was born.  While Luther is not on the 1910 census, neither is son Clyde who was born in 1902.  Luther's death was a railroad accident.  Family lore suggests that Luther was hit by a train and his body dismembered.

Below is a picture of Mary and Gertrude, Dow and Clyde probably about 1908.

                                            Gertrude, Dow, Clyde and Mary Alexander


Mary met Carl John Harris and married him in December 1916 in Headrick, Oklahoma.  Carl was born in Anna, Collin, Texas on March 20, 1900.  Carl's parents were George Ock Harris and Minnie Todd Harris who had moved to Texas from Mississippi.  Below is a photo of Mary and Carl Harris before their marriage, probably about 1915.

Mary was a sweet grandmother and loved to be in control of things.  She once told me that she met Carl and knew because he was younger than she was that she needed to take care of him.  In the next blog, I'll give you information about Mary and Carl's children.