Garda Renee Waters Harris' Obituary
GARDA RENEE WATERS HARRIS, our loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother passed peacefully away at her home in Orem on October 25, 2025, exactly three years to the day after her husband passed away. She was 86 years old.
She was born on March 27, 1939, in Idaho Falls, Idaho to Joseph Burr Waters and Flora Emma Durtschi, the second of three children. Her parents died when she was 7 years old, and the three children were raised by some remarkable cousins, Sherman and Veda Meldrum Howard. They moved to Orem, Utah in 1949 where she grew up, graduated from Orem High School in 1957, attended BYU and worked as an office assistant at the Geneva Steel Plant.
She married Phillip D. Harris on October 23, 1959, in the Salt Lake Temple and they were sealed by Elder Hugh B. Brown. They spent many happy years together raising their five children in Southern California and Orem, Utah. Her whole life revolved around genealogy and family history. She received an associate degree in Family History from Brigham Young University in 1982 and spent many years gathering family information and doing the associated temple work. She had her own family history business, spending much time at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, helping many people across the United States with their research.
She served for many years in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in various callings including as President of the Primary, Young Women and Relief Society as well as Stake Camp director and Compassionate Service Leader. She also played the piano for various organizations throughout the years. She spent 10 years as Stake Extraction Coordinator and many years working in the Indexing Program. She and her husband served for several years as Service Missionaries in the Orem Digital Book Scanning Program.
She is predeceased by her husband, Phillip D. Harris; her daughter, Julia Dawn Haupt; her sister, Carolyn Casper; and her stepbrother, Kenneth Howard. Survivors include her daughter, Michelle (Reed) Adams, Oceanside, California; sons, Scott (Danette) Harris, Springville, Utah; Mark Harris, Duchesne, Utah; and Dale (Linda) Harris, Heber City, Utah; 21 grandchildren; 21 great-grandchildren; and her brother, Merrill Waters, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, November 1, 2025, at 11:00 am with a viewing from 9:30-10:45 am at the Cherry Hill 3rd Ward Chapel, 1650 South 200 East, Orem. Interment will follow in the Orem City Cemetery.
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