Dr. Catherine May (Neighbor) Harris, born Oct. 22, 1928, in Kansas City, Missouri, to Josephine (Duncan) and Charles Henry Neighbor, passed into the light on Friday, Aug. 26, 2022, at the age of 93. She was at home in Placitas, N.M., in the loving arms of her daughters, Catherine Anne Harris and Norah Elizabeth Harris.
Catherine May grew up in Iola, living with her grandparents, Ora Phares and Charlotte (Lottie) Catherine Duncan, her mother Josephine, and her two older brothers, Charles and Howard.
Proud of her roots, she often reminisced about this early life and her family’s struggles and triumphs living through the Great Depression.
After high school, she attended the University of Kansas School of Nursing and worked as a hospital nurse in Chicago and San Francisco. Catherine joined the Air Force in 1953 and served as an active-duty nurse for three years in Chateauroux, France and continued to serve her country in the USAF Reserves for 12 years.
She was discharged as a captain and was proud of the country she served. After discharge, she spent a year studying music in Boston at the New England Conservatory of Music and then moved to San Francisco where she worked as a public health nurse while earning her baccalaureate and master’s degrees at University of California School of Nursing.
She later moved to New Mexico and became a professor emeritus at the University of New Mexico School of Nursing, eventually earning her PhD in Nursing Education. Catherine was dedicated to the field of geriatric mental health and pioneered education to support professionals and families in providing dignified care for patients of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Catherine loved the natural world, music, and family. She was generous with her time, words, and loving support. Her smile could light up the sky. Catherine was preceded in death by her two big brothers, Charles Henry Neighbor and Howard Duncan Neighbor. She is survived by her two daughters, Catherine Anne Harris and Norah Elizabeth Harris; her stepsons, Peter Gerald Harris and David Lee Harris; her two step-grandsons, Samuel David Harris and Lee Spencer Harris; her half-sister Carol Neighbor, and her beloved dog, Blue.
Inurnment services will be at Highland Cemetery in Iola on Thursday, June 22, at 2 p.m. and will be handled by Feuerborn Family Funeral Service.
Condolences may be left at www.feuerbornfuneral.com.
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