Geraldine Harris-Odum's Obituary
Geraldine Harris Odum
GERALDINE HARRIS ODUM WAS BORN IN DAWSON, (TERRELL COUNTY) GEORGIA ON JANUARY 27, 1942. SHE WAS THE THIRD CHILD OF FIVE CHILDREN BORN TO THE LATE RICHARD HARRIS, SR AND GEORGIA NATHAN HARRIS. SHE WAS EDUCATED IN THE TERRELL COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT, BUT LATER MOVED TO ATLANTA, GEORGIA WHERE SHE GRADUATED FROM CARVER HIGH SCHOOL IN 1960.
GERALDINE (GERRY) ACCEPTED CHRIST AS HER SAVIOR AT A YOUNG AGE; WHILE ATTENDING BEULAH BAPTIST CHURCH. SHE CONTINUED HER CHRISTIAN JOURNEY, AS A TRUE SOILDER, WITH VIGOR AND FERVOR- NEVER MISSING AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK OF GOD’S UNMERRITED FAVOR.
GERALDINE (GERRY) WAS KNOWN FOR HER GENTEEL MANNERISM AND ENTHUSIAM FOR LIFE. SHE WAS A CHEERLEADER IN HIGH SCHOOL, BUT MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, SHE WAS KNOWN FOR HER CLASSIC ATTIRE. SHE WAS THE PERSONIFICATION OF “A LADY” IN CHARACTER AND STYLE. GERRY, THOUGH JUST A TEEN, WAS A WORLD CLASS SEAMSTRESS. HER SKILL WAS EXQUISTE AND FREQUENTLY ACCEPTED IN EXCHANGE FOR EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES THAT INTERESTED HER. AFTER GRADUATION (GRADUATING THIRD IN HER CLASS), GERRY LEFT GEORGIA AND MOVED TO ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND WHERE SHE MARRIED KENNY ODUM, SENIOR, IN 1961. FROM THIS UNION FIVE CHILDREN WERE BORN. HER POPULARITY AS A SEAMSTRESS FOLLOWED HER TO MARYLAND, AS WELL. GERRY’S EYE FOR DESIGN AND ATTENTION TO DETAIL DID NOT GO UNNOTICED. THE OWNERS OF THE HOLIDAY INN IN ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND, COMMISSIONED HER TO MAKE THE DRAPES IN THE BANQUET ROOM OF ITS HOTEL. SHE WENT ON TO BECOME THE PERSONAL SEAMSTRESS OF MRS. GEORGE PHILIP, WIFE OF THE OWNER OF THE FAMOUS HARBOR HOUSE IN ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND AND MRS. RICHARDSON- PROPRIETOR OF THE RICHARDSON PAROLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
ON FEBRUARY 5, 2018, GERALDINE WAS CALLED TO REST. SHE, NOW, JOINS HER FATHER (RICHARD SR. / 1993), MOTHER (GEORGIA / 1992) AND THREE SISTERS (CHRISTINE/ 1958), (GERTRUDE/ 1986), (DORIS/ 1997) WHO PRECEEDED HER. GERALDINE LEAVES A LEGACY OF LOVE THAT WILL BE LONG REMEMBERED. SHE LEAVES TO CHERISH HER MEMORY, HER CHILDREN, KENNY JUEL (LAVERNE) ODUM, JR, QUINTIN AVERY (DELORES) ODUM, DEBORAH FAY (GARY) PRICE, GERALD JEROME ODUM, SR., AND PAMELA BEATRICE ODUM. A DEDICATED NIECE, EDYTHE ADRIA THOMAS, HER BROTHER, RICHARD (BETTY) HARRIS, SR., BROTHER-IN-LAWS, JOHNNIE (GERTRUDE) BROWN, AND FRANCIS E. (DORIS) THOMAS, SR., 14 GRANDCHILDREN, 8 GREAT GRANDS AND A HOST OF NIECES, NEPHEWS AND FRIENDS.
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