Obituary of Claudine Harris

Claudine Harris died peacefully on December 12, 2022, in her home at Oaknoll Retirement Residence in Iowa City. Her life and work revolved around language, science, writing, reading, photography, and gourmet food. She loved travel and was a frequent appreciator of the performing arts. Described by friends as a “true humanist,” Claudine cared about social issues and was active in service and volunteerism. Claudine Maroni was born in Paris, France, in 1926, and immigrated with her family to the United States in 1941. She graduated from Cambridge (Massachusetts) High and Latin School in 1942. She received her B.A. degree in physics in 1946 from Radcliffe College, and M.A. from Harvard in 1949. She met her husband, James L. Harris, at the Unitarian church in Cambridge. They married there in 1954 and had two children, Gregory and Nicole. James Harris, who died in 2001, was a professor in the University of Iowa Graduate Program of Urban and Regional Planning. Claudine’s early career involved work in radiation detection instrumentation. In Iowa, she continued her more than thirty-year career in technical writing and editing, freelancing at first, and working at Child Health Specialty Clinics, followed by twelve years at the Information Systems Department of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Her volunteer work included leadership positions with the League of Women Voters of Johnson County, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the Cardinal Council of Girl Scouts, and the Unitarian Universalist Society of Iowa City. At Oaknoll, she cultivated a large garden of perennials, and she participated in the Residents’ Council and in map-making as the campus enlarged during her twenty-three years of residence there. Claudine donated her lifelong collection of personal and professional papers to the Iowa Women’s Archives; their website (collguides.lib.uiowa.edu/?IWA0446) contains her detailed biography and a fascinating summary of the materials. In retirement she wrote two volumes of memoirs and collaborated with her daughter, Niki, to self-publish those and about eight more books of her photography, poetry, and recollections (see Lulu.com). Please do refer to those links for access to the depth and breadth of her life and accomplishments. The experience will be worthwhile! Survivors include her daughter, Niki, and husband, Bob; her son, Greg, and wife, Connie; six nieces and nephews; eleven great-nieces and -nephews; and four great-great-nieces and -nephews. Those who knew Claudine will always remember her friendship, enthusiastic participation, thoughtful opinions, and passion for bettering the community. Contributions can be made in her memory to Compassion and Choices. Claudine did not want a memorial service. She said, “Do what makes you happy after I’m gone.”