Evergie Harris

God blessed Evergie to live: 102.4 years: 1,229 months: 5,343 weeks: 37,404 days: 897,696 hours: 53,861,760 minutes: 3,231,705,600 seconds.

Evergie Lena “Pittman” Harris was born May 19, 1921, in McGehee, Arkansas. She was the only child of Minerva Skipper and Roosevelt Pittman. Evergie’s mother passed away when she was three years old; the next ten years she was raised by her grandparents, Tom, and Caroline Skipper.

After the death of her grandmother, her aunt and uncle, Alberta, and General Skipper cared for her. She accepted Christ as her personal savior at a very young age and enjoyed participating in Sunday School, often reminiscing about her fond memories of performing in Easter, and Christmas programs.

She was a member of Mt. Olive Grand Chapter of Eastern Star, under the Auspices of MW St. Joseph Grand Lodge A.F. & A.M. She was a member of Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church for over 70 years and served on the Mothers’ Board.  For fun, she dressed in purple and wore a red hat and went on outings with the Red Hat Society.

Evergie was an excellent student and remembered almost everything she learned as a child. In fact, at the age of 102 she could recite, word for word, a poem her mother taught her when she was three years old. In high school, English and writing were her strong suits. She maintained these skills throughout her adult life and composed several poems.  In addition, she had an excellent eye for interior design.

After coming-of-age, Evergie married Ulicious Harris. Ulicious worked for Union Pacific Railroad, and in the early 1940’s he was transferred to the Pacific Northwest. The couple first settled in Vanport Oregon, and later her husband bought land to build a home in Southeast Portland.  The home was ready soon enough so that they missed having to endure a major flood in Vanport. Currently, the SE area in which they lived is a sought-after area known as Woodstock.

During WWII, Evergie worked in the shipyards, and often spoke about the fun she had on that job. Later, Evergie became a License Practical Nurse (LPN) and worked at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital for almost 20 years. After leaving Doernbecher’s she became a volunteer “grandma” at Doernbecher for more than 10 years. During the years that she volunteered, she also ran a small day care center to help single parents who needed childcare.  Interestingly, prior to her nursing career she was a “hatcheck” girl at the Aero Club. She was also one of the first African Americans hired to “usher” at the Fox Theater in downtown Portland.

In 1972 Evergie moved to NE Portland where she purchased a home, where she remained until her passing. Evergie was one of the first African American families in the neighborhood. When she moved in, many of the neighbors pooled their money and offered to pay her double what she paid for her home to move somewhere else. She declined!

Evergie was mother to eleven (11) children, ten (10) of which were biological. She was a foster mother for several children and as mentioned earlier was a pediatric nurse. After leaving her nursing career she opened a small day care center and several of the former children (who are now adults) continued to come to the house to visit her.

She was a super, super PTA “room mother.” One year while her children were in grammar school, three of her children volunteered her to be their room mother, which meant she had to provide cookies and/or cupcakes and treats for Easter, Halloween, and Christmas. In those days, each classroom had a minimum of 30 children. She took that obligation in stride and sometimes had to purchase bags of “Ginger Snaps.” Thereafter she made it clear to her children, they didn’t have the authority to volunteer her for room mother without her permission.

Her system of discipline caused her children great anguish, not because she was brutal, but she had a psychological system: first she would make us cut our own switch, then she would ask us if we understood the word “disobedient,” then she would ask us if there was a “legitimate” reason for being disobedient, she would never accept an “I don’t know” response.

She would ask us if we understood why we were being punished, if we pretended, we didn’t know she would make us think about it, by that time we were already crying. Finally, she would deliver three or four ankle lashes. After the lashes she hugged and kissed us saying that spanking us hurt her, more than it did us. As we got older, we politely asked if she would stop giving us a lecture and “get on with the switch.”

Evergie was an outstanding member of her community in southeast Portland. Every year she canvassed and volunteered for United Way, Red Cross, and March of Dimes. She continued her support for children by donating to Save the Children, St. Jude, and Shriners.

Evergie along with her husband were strong civil rights advocates. They were adamant about the ethics of respect, justice, integrity, civil rights, and the importance of “voting.” On more than one occasion some of the children accompanied Mom and/or Dad to the voting booth.

Prior to Evergie’s demise, she was known as one of the oldest living members of Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church. Also, it is alleged that prior to her passing on October 15, 2023, she was the only person in the United States to be named “Evergie.”

Her husband, Ulicious Harris, preceded her in death in August 1984. Six of her children also preceded her in death as follows: Ulicious Jr., Harvey, Constance, Anita, Curtis, and Darlene.

She is survived by her son, James Harris, and her daughters, Otharyn Rand, Bertha Smith, Phyllis Harris-Haynes (Nate), Betty Harris; and her daughter-in-law, Beth Hoover, and her son-in-law David Davenport plus 17 grandchildren; 26 great-grandchildren; nieces, nephews, friends, and associates.

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