Doris Jean Harris (West)

On Tuesday morning March 24, 2026, Doris Jean Harris (West), after 66 years of marriage to Patrick (Pat) D. Harris, died peacefully at home in her sleep with a beautiful smile on her face. Jean and Pat have 3 middle-aged married children – Donna (Dan), Wes (Lillian), Kent (Angela); 6 grandchildren – Laura (Kaleb), Kaelyn, Victoria (Jacob), Sean, Joshua, and Grace; 1 great grandson – Easton (2yo); 1 informally adopted daughter – Jing (Paul) Bryant; and 2 informally adopted grandchildren – Lex, and Liz; All live in Louisville KY except Victoria is in Chicago IL. Jean also has numerous great friends throughout the USA, Canada, Europe, China, and Japan.

Jean was a quiet, cheerful, very friendly, help-anyone-anywhere-anytime person who was a faithful member of the Westport Road Baptist Church from 1981 to ~2019 when she became increasing confined by severe dementia. Before that, Jean was active in the Women 3 Bible group, Church Library, and pre-school Sunday children group. She also gave much time to charity groups such as TWIGS (Norton’s Hospital) and the American Heart Association.

Jean was also affectionately known in the Catholic Church as Jean the Baptist (Jean's consistent life-long religion) who brought Pat the Atheist back to Christ and Catholicism (religion of his youth) and then to ordained ministry (as a Permanent Catholic Deacon). Jean (the Baptist) was well known among Bishops, Clergy, and Catholics in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles (St Rita parish in Sierra Madra CA), the diocese of Jefferson City Missouri (Our Lady of Lourdes in Columbia MO), and (for 45 years) the Archdiocese of Louisville (especially Mother of Good Counsel and St Bernadette in Louisville, All Saints in Taylorsville KY, and St Michael the Archangel in Fairfield KY).

In 1977 during Pat’s first year as an ordained Catholic Deacon in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Manning inquired about how Pat became a Catholic deacon with a non-Catholic wife. Cardinal Manning discovered that Bishop McAuliffe of Jefferson City had petitioned Rome to get Pope Paul VI’s approval to allow Pat into deaconate formation with a Baptist wife. Cardinal Manning also discovered that Pat was the first and only ordained Catholic deacon with a non-Catholic wife in the world in 1978. Cardinal Manning was very interested in her Baptist spirituality that would cooperate with Pat as a Catholic in ordained Deacon ministry. Due to his interactions with Jean, Cardinal Manning began accepting candidates with non-Catholic spouses into deaconate formation in 1979, and they continue to do so today. While in Los Angeles, Pat humbly realized that the Lord wanted Jean the Baptist in Catholic Ministry and had to take Pat to get her!!!!

The Celebration of Jean’s Life will take place at Newcomer Funeral Home (East Louisville), 235 Juneau Drive, Louisville KY 40243, from 1 to 7pm on Friday May 29. This is informal (casual dress) with no formal service (burial later in family plot in Edgerton MO). Please no flowers, just come for story-telling.