Dolores A. (Harris) Speese

Dolores A. (Harris) Speese, 89, of Mechanicsburg, died Thursday, December 26, 2019 at UPMC Pinnacle West Shore. Daughter of the late George and Gertrude (Lasch) Harris, she was born on November 2, 1930 in Dubois.

She was a graduate of Swatara Twp. High School (’48) and worked and retired from the PA Turnpike Commission. Before moving to Messiah Lifeways, Mechanicsburg, she was an active member of Wyndamere Heights Evangelical Congregational Church, Lewisberry, and the Red Hat Society. She was also a member of the Order of the Eastern Star. She liked to keep a clean household and enjoyed tidying up; she also found crossword puzzles quite relaxing. She was an amazing cook and hostess, regularly making enough food to feed an army. After the death of her husband in 2001 she essentially hung up her oven mitts except for the occasional holiday dinner, much to the dismay of her family. We still have her potato salad and Kipfel cookie recipe but we could never reproduce her pot roast.

Dolores is survived by her three children, David L. Speese (Vicki) of Lewisberry; Karen A. Ourand of Lewisberry; and Jeff Speese (Gigi) of Dillsburg; eight grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Gilbert L. Speese; and three siblings, Jeanne Koelle, Joanne Beedlow, and George Harris.

A funeral service will take place at 11AM on Friday, January 3, 2020 at Messiah Lifeways Chapel, Mechanicsburg. A visitation will take place one hour prior in the chapel. A private burial will take place in Blue Ridge Memorial Gardens, Harrisburg.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Dolores’s name to: Messiah Lifeways, ATTN: Endowment Fund for Benevolent Care, 100 Mt. Allen Drive, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055.