Harriet L. McGee

Harriet Lamel McGee was born October 20, 1945, to Alfred Odell and Harriet Priscilla McGee. She grew up in the Bronzeville area of Chicago. When she was 11 years old, she lost her mother, but her father and his brother Rufus Lee, raised her and her eight siblings: Elaine, Eddie, Alfreda, Joan, Mary, Marlene, and the twins, Alfred and Rufus, keeping the family together. She graduated from Wendell Phillips High School in 1963, and thereafter had various jobs, including at the United States Post Office and First National Bank. After raising her children, she returned to school for degrees from Olive Harvey College and Chicago State University.

As a young woman and an aspiring fashion designer, she liked drawing and sketching dresses, and years later, sewed and created memorable outfits. Throughout her life, she spent many nights playing her "dusties", especially Doo-Wop and Chicago Soul, and enjoyed an occasional round of pool or bowling.

True to the meaning of her name, Harriet eventually left the workforce to fully dedicate herself to being a "home ruler," after the birth of her son James Martin (who she nicknamed Lou after making "lu-lu-lu" sounds to get and keep his attention as a baby); her daughter Harriet Mary was born a decade later. She opened her home to more children by serving for about a year as the guardian of one of her nephews in the late sixties, and as one for three of her nieces for about five years during the seventies and early eighties. As a single parent, she was very protective of them and did whatever she could to keep them away from bad and bad away from them. She bought board games to play with the children and even made-up educational ones, such as finding shorter words within a longer word. Most importantly, she made sure that they learned about Jehovah, studied the Bible and attended Christian meetings.

Harriet was introduced to the Truth in 1972, when her former classmate, Quintella Barnes invited her to a Sunday meeting. She attended, liked what she heard, and never stopped attending. She finally felt the scriptural comfort that she long sought after the death of her beloved mother! Sisters Barnes, Patricia Howard, Barbara Jean Ferguson and Mary Cossey shared in "watering the seed of truth" until she was baptized on December 23, 1973. Despite ups and downs along the way, she was able to recover due to her love for Jehovah and the spiritual support of the friends, such as Sis. Beverly Turner. Many longtime friends speak of her zeal in the ministry and readiness to speak up for the truth and her heartfelt comments based on her diligent study habits. Even though she was a no-nonsense person who could be very forthright, she had a quick and clever sense of humor. She was also a woman of deep faith who prayed  incessantly and preached relentlessly. Many of her loved ones recall a casual visit turning into an impromptu bible study!

In addition to her beloved parents, Harriet Priscilla and Alfred, she also awaited the resurrections of her dear Uncle Rufus; aunts, Willa Mae and Irma; sisters, Mary, Joan, and Elaine; cousins,

Shirley, Rosemary, William, Lois, Celeste, and Ruby; and brother-in-law, George, before falling asleep herself in death on June 25, 2022.

Mourning her loss are her son, James, and daughter, Harriet Mary; sisters, Alfreda and Marlene; brothers, Eddie (Laura), Alfred (Barbara), and Rufus "Rudy" (Denise); nephews, Joey, Aaron,George Jr., Alfred III, and Amir; nieces, Joan, Michelle, Wendy, Priscilla, Dorri, Makeba, and Paris; cousins, Shemron, Iris, and Wilma; many more cousins, great-nieces and great-nephews, and her even bigger spiritual family, including her long-time friend Dolores Raymond, as well as Cornell and Jeanette Butler, Patricia Thornton, Brenda Griffin, Pauline Reynolds, and Michael Alston.