Muriel “Evelyn” Harrison

1927-2022

Muriel “Evelyn” Harrison was Born in Lacombe, Alberta, Canada. The daughter of David and Zella R. Johnstone.  Evelyn was the second of four children.

She was born at her grandmother’s home, where her grandmother assisted with her birth.  When Evelyn was an infant, the family of four moved to southern Oregon, where another child was born, a brother born in September 1928.  In 1932, after the crash of ’29, a sister was born.

The family was then six in number. Times were tough for the family, and in 1936 Evelyn’s father passed away from a post-surgery infection, making life very difficult for Evelyn and her family.  They moved to Vanport in Portland where her mother got a job in the Shipyard. Her Mother worked there until they laid off all the women in 1945, to make jobs for the returning WWII veterans.

In 1946, Evelyn met Eugene (Gene) Harrison.  They were introduced by a mutual friend after Gene returned to Portland when his WWII service with the Navy ended.  Evelyn and Gene were married September 10th, 1947. They settled in north Portland, not far from Gene’s family. He worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad, and Evelyn worked for the local phone company. The couple purchased their first home in southeast Portland.   Evelyn gave birth to three children – Michael born in 1949, Linda born in 1951 and Laura born in 1961.

With the expectation of a third child, the family moved to a new home in 1961, also in southeast Portland near Eastport Plaza, considered a state-of-the art mall for the time.  With the birth of a third child, Evelyn quit working and began to take ceramic classes.  By the mid to late 1960’s, Evelyn started to teach ceramics out of the basement in their home.   She named her business “Evelyn’s Ceramics,” and taught classes to many students for over 20 years.

She eventually retired from teaching, but always retained her passion for ceramics, including creating items and firing in her Kiln until mid-2021.

After the passing of her husband, Gene, Evelyn moved to a smaller home in Vancouver, Washington to be closer to her oldest daughter who had an established Vancouver, WA as home.  Evelyn lived in her Vancouver home independently from 1990 until her death on January 18th, 2022.

In addition to ceramics, Evelyn was a zealous reader.   When she moved to the Vancouver home her son-in-law, Brian, a carpenter by trade, built her a beautiful library in her new family room that was a shrine for her books.  At one point she had collected well over 1000 books.

Evelyn was a brilliant woman.  She graduated from High School at age 16 because of her advanced academic achievements. She attended college as long as she could afford to.  Evelyn was also avid gardener, treasuring her tea roses, vegetables and herbs.

Evelyn was a beloved daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend and teacher.  She was smart, sassy, sweet, considerate, kind, and thoughtful.  Everyone who met her loved her and found her delightful.  She was pre-deceased by daughter, Linda Harrison, in 2008.  She is survived by her son, Michael Harrison and his wife Jeanne of Portland, OR; daughter, Laura Yates and her husband Brian Yates of Portland, OR; and their two children Brandon Yates of Chicago, IL and Cameron Yates of Portland, OR; and two grandchildren, James Simmons of Vancouver, WA and Jeremiah Simmons of Vancouver, WA.

A memorial service will be held spring 2022.  Remembrances / donations can be made on her behalf to the American Cancer Society in Honor of her late Husband.