09/29/2026
Sandra E. Harris
Sandra Ellen Hall Harris passed away peacefully on September 26, 2026 at the age of 88. She was born in Towanda, Pennsylvania on July 9, 1938, the first child of William Henry and Elaine Ellen Benton Hall. At the age of two, she moved to Snow Shoe, Pennsylvania, a small town in the Allegheny Mountains where her parents were born and raised and where she would live the next eighteen years of her life. Snow Shoe was a very special place that she returned to often with her husband and children and that she longed for dearly in her later years.
Sandra loved school and was a conscientious student. She was involved in many activities as a youth: piano lessons, school band where she played the lyre and E flat horn, marching band majorette, chorus, sports, and school plays. As an adult she continued to excel in bowling and tennis, bringing home many trophies and awards. Music also continued to be an important part of her life, and she used these talents to bless others. Her church congregations were blessed by her piano, organ, singing, and conducting skills as well as the many special musical numbers that she would arrange. Her family was blessed by her comforting lullabies; silly songs made up on the spot to fit the occasion; ABBA and John Denver albums; singing on road trips; sacrifices to teach and provide music lessons for her children; hymns sung to redirect the mood in her home; and beautiful duets with her sweetheart, DeVerle.
Sandra graduated from The Williamsport School of Commerce with a legal secretarial degree and worked in that capacity for the Curtiss-Wright Corporation and then at Pennsylvania State University in the President’s Office and the Dean of Men’s office. After her children were raised, she went back to work as the secretary at the Tucson Institute of Religion. She was dedicated and invested in these responsibilities. While she was working at Penn State, she met her “handsome prince” DeVerle. They had a beautiful courtship and were married on January 21, 1967. He was and always will be her true love, her sweetheart, her everything.
Sandra grew up in a strong Christian family, loved God, and reflected that love in her relationships. DeVerle introduced Sandra to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and she was baptized in 1971. On May 30, 1975 she and DeVerle were sealed in the Washington D.C. Temple. Sandra was a faithful member of the church, serving in various callings with all her heart. She was quick to help a friend or family member and made everyone around her feel loved. She also had a deep desire to know and serve those who went before her. She spent many hours doing research, visiting courthouses, scouring cemeteries for information about her ancestors, and doing temple work for them. In their retirement years, she and DeVerle served in the Family and Church History Mission in Salt Lake City where their focus was to help others to do the same. Sandra had many sacred experiences reaching out to people she loves on both sides of the veil.
Sandra was the dearest mother one could ask for. She welcomed DeVerle’s sons, Randy, David, and Richard into her heart and was thrilled to have three children with DeVerle: Kirstan, Brett, and Todd. In her own words, “Of all the callings I have had, being a wife, mother, and grandmother has been my favorite and most rewarding. My family is the light of my life.”
Sandra will be remembered for her compassion, quick wit, creativity (though she denied having any), faith, love of her family, dedication to learning, beautiful smile, and sparkling blue eyes. The disease that slowly took her from us limited her ability to use these gifts to their fullest, but her spirit fought valiantly to let them show. We rejoice with her in gratitude, knowing she can now see, hear, and remember all things because of our Heavenly Father’s perfect plan.
Sandra is survived by her husband, DeVerle; stepsons, Randy (Marsha) Harris, and Richard Harris; children Kirstan (Nathan) Hilton, Brett (Mary) Harris, and Todd (Heather) Harris; 10 grandchildren (Jessica, Elisha, Scott, Amber, Courtney, Tyler, Sean, Evan, Liam, and Ashley); 8 great-grandchildren (Tavita, Elliott, Manu, Phoebe, Sawyer, Sua, Clara, and Landon); and two brothers, Bill and Dan Hall. She was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Audrey Butler, and her stepson David Harris.
Funeral services will be held at 10 am Friday, October 2, 2026, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints chapel at 9541 E. Snyder Rd. in Tucson, AZ. A viewing will be held starting at 9 am. The burial will follow the funeral service at Binghampton Cemetery at 4001 N. Alvernon Way.
The service can be viewed live at the following link: https://zoom.us/j/95382214715
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