Mrs. Helen Boulware-Harris

BOULWARE-HARRIS, Mrs. Helen - Age 92, passed away Monday, July 31, 2017 at McLaren-Flint. It is with profound sadness and ardent, ineluctable love that the family of Helen B. Harris announces her passing on July 31, 2017 in Flint, Michigan at the age of 92. Helen Clareta Boulware Harris was born on March 6, 1925 in High Point, North Carolina. Daughter of the late Wille E. Boulware and Hattie W., with two sisters, Ethel Mae and Willie Bell, Helen insisted on entering the first grade at the age of 4. She graduated with honors from William Penn High School and attained her Bachelors Degree at Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina with a double major in History and Sociology. Helen was inducted into the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and also joined the League of Women Voters in 1945. She earned her Master’s Degree in Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. It was in Iowa that Helen met and married Dr. Wendell B. Harris, Sr., an osteopathic physician in 1951. In 1952, they moved to Flint where Dr. Harris established his private practice. They only intended to stay 5 years. “Black people begged us to stay in Flint,” which then had a dearth of black professionals. But, five years turned into a lifetime. The couple has three sons: Wendell, Jr., Charles Boulware and Hobart Whitaker. Helen’s life-long community volunteerism and political activism included serving as president of the League of Women Voters, secretary for the Downtown Development Authority, member of the local review committee for the United Way of Genesee and Lapeer counties, along with her service on the Flint Board of Education to which she was duly elected in 1971. Helen also served on the boards of NBD Genesee Bank as well as Gethsemane 84, Inc. d/b/a Prismatic Images, the audio-video studio in downtown Flint which she co-founded in 1979. As Executive Producer of the feature film Chameleon Street, Helen raised the $1.5 million dollar budget from local investors. She always gave credit to her decades of community involvement for the support, both financial and emotional, received during the making of Chameleon Street. Her 49-year marriage to ‘Doc’ ended on December 12, 2000 with his death at the age of 90. She is survived by her three sons and a host of relatives and friends ensconced across the country. These include her nephews Wesley Ingram, Harold ‘Chip’ Gregory, Wayne Gregory, nieces Sue Alves and June Carter, 2nd cousins Doreen Lindsay, Penny Gurley and close friends Dolores C. Ennis, Jacqui Watkins and Anthony J. Ennis. There will be a brief and private interment ceremony this Friday, August 4, 2017 followed on September 30, 2017 by a much larger Life Celebration at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Flint.

Mrs. Helen Boulware-Harris

March 6, 1925 - July 31, 2017