Ronald and Helen Harro
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our parents, Helen Mays Harro and Ronald Lee Harro. Helen was born in Philadelphia, Pa., July 31, 1939, and died Aug. 31, 2020, at Schneidmiller Hospice House in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Ronald was born OCt. 27, 1940, in Harrisburg, Pa. and died Sept. 5, 2022, at Guardian Angel Homes in Post Falls, Idaho.
Ron and Helen met in the fourth grade and spent the rest of their lives together. They graduated from West Shore High School in Carlisle, Pa., in 1958. Ron attended Lehigh University after high school, but ended up graduating from Shippensburg University with a business degree where, coincidentally, Helen was also attending. They married in 1962, raised two boys and enjoyed nearly six decades of marriage, until Helen’s passing.
Ron was hired right out of college by IBM, but found their corporate culture a little too straight-laced. He moved on to the Sperry/UNIVAC corporation and began a long and productive career as a systems analyst, installing and programming some of the earliest mainframe computer systems. In those days instructions were written in the now-forgotten computer languages of Fortran, COBOL, and Pascal using decks of punch cards. He retired from Sperry as the managing executive of its Portland, Ore., office.
Helen was a loving and exceptionally tolerant mother. She endured a parade of lizards, snakes and rodents that her sons called pets. Her boys regularly came home filthy and sunburnt after playing with friends on hot summer days. Her home was the social hub for the neighborhood kids because she always had popsicles to hand out and didn’t care if the carpets got dirty. During those years, she gained one of her most treasured titles — that of den mother. She was a talented visual artist, and volunteered actively at church, the animal shelter and as a teacher’s aide.
In 1976, the family moved across the country from Pennsylvania to Olympia, Wash. The trans-continental trip was made in an orange, Chevy Vega hatchback that conveyed two snakes, a pair of gerbils, one chameleon, four humans and a Doberman Pinscher (in the back), along with seven days’ luggage stacked on the roof.
Two years later the family moved to Davis, Calif., following Ron’s work, and then on to Issaquah, Wash., a couple of years after that. Helen and Ron moved to Beaverton, Ore., after the boys were on their own and lived there for 20 years, owning an antique shop in quasi-retirement before finally moving to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in 2009.
If Ron had a superpower, it was his deflecting sense of humor. He could assuage any anger his wife aimed at him simply by making her laugh. Helen’s superpower was knowing his “tell.” If he was fibbing, she knew the dimple in his chin would betray him. Together they bickered, chided and adored each other through 58 lovely years of marriage.
They are survived by sons Douglas and John Harro, daughters-in-law Rebecca (McKim) Harro and Bonnie Harro, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Preceding them in death were Helen’s father and mother, Albert and Helen (Flounders) Mays; her brother, Alan Mays; and Ron’s parents, Roy Harro, Jr. and Pauline (Coble) Harro. Ron is survived by his brothers, Robert and Richard.
Ron and Helen spoiled a long succession of canine companions through their lives. They would be pleased if remembrances would be in the form of supporting your local animal shelter. The family wishes to acknowledge Guardian Angel Homes in Post Falls, Idaho, for providing them both with superb care in their last years.
