Family, friends celebrate St. Charles resident’s 105th birthday

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, January 30, 2013

By David Vitrano
L’Observateur

DESTREHAN – Birthdays come and go, and as people age, they generally make less and less of a big deal of the annual milestones.
But sometimes there is cause to break that trend, and this week presented just such a case as Ormond Nursing and Care Center resident Virgina Harris celebrated her 105th birthday Monday.
Harris, who was born Jan. 28, 1908, has lived all her life in St. Charles Parish, mostly in St. Rose, and over the years touched many, many lives, as evidenced by the large turnout for her birthday celebration at the nursing home Saturday.
“She’s just been a pillar of the community,” said Mallory Allen, who was one of many people Harris helped to raise over the years. “Six or eight generations of children can tell you something about Aunt G.”
Harris married the Rev. Solomon Harris on Dec. 6, 1928, and the couple enjoyed many happy years before he died in 1993. Despite being childless as well as the last surviving sibling of 15, the sizeable turnout and the almost palpable sense of love in the dining room at the nursing home was a testament to the type of person Harris was and continues to be.
Susan Vinnett Charles, one of the many people who owe at least a part of their upbringing to Harris, said, “She taught. She prayed. She was very careful keeping everything in order. That’s the legacy she passed on to me.”
Married to a minister, Harris devoted much of her own life to God. She was baptized in the Mississippi River in 1941. Among the details listed in a proclamation from Sen. Gary Smith are a couple of her favorite scriptures, Psalms 27 and 121. Psalm 27 begins: “ The Lord is my light and my salvation — whom shall I fear?”
According to family members and friends present Saturday, Harris truly took these words to heart, and although Harris herself could not point to the secret to her longevity herself Saturday, Allen answered for her, saying, “She would attribute her longevity to the Lord.”