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[Kelly]

A Memorial Tribute to Denise Harrison
Written by Kelly Murphy
 

 
Denise Anne Harrison
July 20, 1957-October 5, 2015
 
A flower garden is a beautiful place and contains calming and healing elements. Your eyes see the magnificent colors and you smell the sweet fragrance. You can breathe it in deeply and begin to feel a peace deep within. A garden is one of many blessings we have in life, should we be open to what it can do for us.
 
There was once a garden that was not real and made entirely of pixels! It was in an online virtual world called Second Life and was created by my friend and colleague, Denise Harrison. 
 
Denise spent countless hours creating and maintaining this unique place, called Garden for the Missing. In the garden, she placed posters of missing persons amongst the beauty of the trees, bushes, flowers and other plant-life. Birds sang and butterflies meandered throughout the garden. Your avatar could sit on a bench and take in the visual treat, and at the same time, view hundreds of posters of missing persons. In its glory days, hundreds of people daily visited the garden.
 

Garden for the Missing
 
Once Denise created the garden, she began to search for a missing persons assistance nonprofit who might share her vision of what the garden meant and could do in terms of awareness for missing persons. She researched all she found and decided that she best liked the philosophies and work done for families of the missing by Project Jason.
 
She contacted me and we had several discussions and phone calls about it. I registered on Second Life so that I could visit the garden personally. After getting to know her and seeing the wonderful place she had created, we knew we should use this vehicle to help the families.
 
Denise didn't have a missing loved one, nor did she know someone who was missing. What she had was a rare gift: someone outside of our circle who truly cared and understood the pain as much as one could without experiencing it themselves. She also had the gift of great intellect and a most generous spirit.
 
The Garden for the Missing became quite popular in Second Life. Members even held fundraisers for us and it was chosen as a featured location many times. The word was getting out about missing people and what the families experience and why nonprofits like Project Jason need the public's assistance to do their work.
 
Then something unexpected happened. It didn't happen overnight or within weeks. We became good friends, as close as sisters and perhaps more. I was so grateful to have someone I could trust and who understood my work and the need. Aside of that, we just got along wonderfully, and had many of the same philosophies  about life and love. We spent numerous enjoyable hours talking to each other on the phone and through email.
 
Eventually, we were blessed to be able to meet in person at a conference. Denise also became a Project Jason board member. She gave of herself and her skills and talents willingly to the organization and friend she loved.
 
The majority of you reading this never knew her and may not have even heard of her and that was fine with her. She didn't need recognition or public accolades. She was just happy to give of herself and make a difference in the lives of others.
 
I want to share with you some of her accomplishments with Project Jason:

• Success of first virtual garden featuring missing persons
• Created Project Jason "office" in Second Life, also the first virtual world presence of a missing persons assistance nonprofit
• Obtained AL Governor's reward fund for missing LaQuanta Riley
• Co-wrote and developed comprehensive guide for families of the missing on how to work with media
• Wrote numerous press release templates for families of the missing to use
• Attended several missing person conferences to gain a better understanding of the cause to increase her effectiveness as a board member
• Worked with her father to try to pass missing person legislation in AL 
• Wrote and sent many press releases for Project Jason and families of missing persons
• Wrote articles for and about Project Jason that were published online and in local magazines
• Wrote the successful submission for the Nebraska Governor's Points of Light award for me
• Wrote the successful submission for the Federal Volunteer for Victims award for me
• Assisted with two rebuilds of the Project Jason website and played a key role in the layout and edit of content on the site
• Worked as my assistant and gave comfort and love to family members attending annual Project Jason Keys to Healing coping skills retreat

In December of 2011, Denise found out she was terminally ill with cancer. This is the same type of cancer that actress Valerie Harper has. It is highly aggressive and few patients live to see the 5 year mark.  
 
She decided that her journey with the illness was going to remain private, other than to be shared with immediate family members and a few close friends.  She didn't want people to feel sorry for her or worry about her. She wanted life all around her to go on as it always had. This was an unselfish act and another gift of love to others. As her illness progressed, the need for privacy made even more sense, as her time to rest needed to be uninterrupted, and she never knew when she would feel up to talking or conversing via email.
 
Denise then faced radiation and 4 rounds of chemo, each one stronger then the last. Originally, doctors told her that after the 3rd round, there would be no more options. After round 3, they did determine there was a 4th chemo mix they could try, but after that, there would nothing more they could do. They did toward the end, find a newer drug they could try that had fewer side effects, and worked in a different way. She had received one round of that treatment when her health rapidly declined and she was taken by ambulance to the hospital wherein she passed away on October 5, 2015 .
 
The last time I saw her was when she came to our retreat in the late summer of 2013. Even though she was ill, she did her usual fantastic job of assisting me and being there for the families we serve. After the retreat, Jeff and I were going to take her to the airport, but we did have time to stop at a local park where there is a tree planted in honor of my missing son, Jason, as well as a plaque placed for him. As we stood there, I became very emotional. I wanted to say a prayer, but the words would not come. Denise took my hand and Jeff took the other, and she said the most beautiful and meaningful prayer I can recall hearing. It was so perfect and clearly borne out of love. I'm glad that was our last moment together other than the goodbye at the airport.
 
During her illness, we spoke now and then about her journey. We found many similarities between being terminally ill and living with ambiguous loss. For both of us, part of the journey was to find the "new normal". Life would never again be normal in a typical way, and it is important to keep up routines as much as possible, and as needed, alter those routines to fit your needs, whether it be a temporary need or not. We also compared notes about gratitude and blessings and the importance of recognizing how very blessed we are. Each moment is a gift as is every life and person in it.
 
Denise bore the hardship of her illness with grace and dignity. She kept working until the end, caring so much about doing a good job and helping others. She told me about the aches and pains and losing her hair, but she never complained, she just explained.
 
She always told me she learned much from me with my situation, but I would say I learned more from her. I don't know that I could have handled the same situation as she did. She taught me how to be a better friend, and more about gratitude than I could have imagined. I learned more about how not to sweat the small stuff, as they say, and when it's no longer small stuff. Even then, as she faced the approaching end of life, she made sure to ask me how I was doing and also to ask about Jeff, my family, and his.
 
I like to think that she is now in a very special garden, prepared just for her. Its beauty surpasses the garden she once made of pixels and any garden on earth, or even of our most vivid imagination. She is pain free and completely at peace. She can rest and has none of our earthly concerns.
 
One thing I know is that love is eternal and transcends all space and time. The love I have for my friend Denise, and the love she has for me will always be. I will miss her wisdom, wit, grace, generous spirit, and presence here, but all those things and more are the gifts she gave to me, which I will keep and remember always.
 
Goodbye for now, my friend. Know that you are loved and cherished by many.
 
Funeral arrangements and her obituary can be found below.
 
It is Denise's wish that donations in lieu of flowers be made to Project Jason.
 
Donations can be mailed to:

Project Jason
PO Box 59054
Renton, WA  98058

Online donors can find two ways to donate on this page:
http://projectjason....u-can-help.html
 
 
A Precious Life in Photos
(To see a larger image, click on the photo)
 
Childhood
 

 

 
 
 

 

With her brother Dale
 

 

 
Teen Years
 

 

 
Photos Continued Below

[Kelly]

Young Adult Years

 

With mom, Shirley

 

With her Aunt Margaret

 

With a beloved pet

 

Denise and her mom, Shirley

 

 

Career and Beyond

 

With her father, Bill at the Olympic Torch relay in 1996.

 

 

With her brother, Dale, on his wedding day

 

With her father, Bill

 

 

More photos below

[Kelly]

Project Jason Years

 

Denise listens to a family member at the Keys to Healing retreat.

 

Denise and Rita Baughman, Board Member, at the Keys to Healing retreat.

 

Denise shares valuable information about working with the media at the Keys to Healing retreat.

 

Denise with Kelly (to her right) and other family members of missing persons at a conference.

 

Denise on her birthday

[Kelly]

Denise Harrison Obituary

 

 

Denise Anne Harrison

 

Denise Harrison, age 58, passed away at South Baldwin Regional Medical Center, Foley, Alabama, on October 5th, 2015. Born at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, on July 20, 1957 to career Army parents, Denise moved frequently, living in Oklahoma, Texas, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Georgia, Virginia, and New Jersey, where she graduated from high school and Montclair University.

 

After graduation, she worked briefly in New York City before moving to Orange County, California, to be nearer her parents. In California Denise worked for several aerospace companies, including Hughes Aircraft Company, and earned a Master’s Degree in Journalism from California State University Fullerton.

 

In 2002 Denise moved to Gulf Shores, Alabama, becoming an independent contractor/free-lance writer for several audio-visual companies, most recently as the Director of Marketing Communications for Professional Systems Network International.

 

Denise has shown her love for animals by volunteering at animal shelters in California and was always accompanied by her small dog, most recently a rescue Yorkie. After moving to Alabama she served for months as a tutor to disadvantaged children. 

 

For over a decade, she volunteered in support of Project Jason, an organization established to create and increase public awareness of missing people, most recently serving on its Board of Directors.

 

She is survived by her parents, William and Shirley Harrison of Gulf Shores, Alabama; a brother, William Dale Harrison of Elon, NC; and two nephews, Nathan and Gabe Harrison of Burlington, NC.

 

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, October 17 at 11:00 AM, in the Compass Room on the first floor of the Compass Point Condominium on Sandpiper Lane in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

 

It was Denise's wish that donations in lieu of flowers be made to Project Jason.

 

Project Jason
PO Box 59054
Renton, WA  98058

Online donors can find two ways to donate on this page:
http://projectjason....u-can-help.html

 

Funeral home page for Denise: http://www.casonfune.../#!/TributeWall

 

Cards of sympathy can be mailed to the family at:

 

Bill and Shirley Harrison

3665 Ancient Oaks Circle
Gulf Shores, AL 36542

 

“A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others”
― L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

 

Tiny URL for easier sharing purposes: http://tinyurl.com/npata8w

[Lori Davis]

Heartbroken to read this.  Rest in peace Denise and fly with the angels.  

[Kelly]

http://www.commercia...e_harrison_dies

 

PSNI Marketing Director Denise Harrison Dies

Harrison, 58, waged a lengthy battle with cancer, always lived her life in highly selfless way.

 

October 06, 2015 By D. Craig MacCormack

 

It’s safe to say many people who knew Denise Harrison have learned a lot more about her since her death on Monday morning than they knew about her during her life, but that’s exactly how she liked it.

 

As Professional Systems Network International executive director Chris Miller said after learning of the organization’s marketing director’s death after a lengthy battle with cancer on Monday, “She didn’t allow many to know of her condition in the past year as she wanted to focus on doing her work and interacting with as many (PSNI members) as possible.”

 

Harrison, 58, spent the past 20 or so years as a strategic marketer, writer and editor in the systems integration space, but never sought the spotlight, said Miller in his announcement. She learned of her diagnosis in December 2011.

 

“Denise never wanted sympathy for her condition and continued to have a wonderful sense of humor right up until the end,” he said in an email announcing Harrison’s death. “We are all very thankful for the commitment and contributions she made to our industry.”

 

And as quietly as Harrison did her work with PSNI and for the industry during her tenure, she was even less public about another passion to which she dedicated her life: missing people. It’s a cause to which she had no direct connection, but one on which she exerted plenty of energy.

 

Harrison created an online virtual garden called Garden for the Missing in an online world known as Second Life, according to Kelly Murphy of Project Jason. She placed posters of missing people among the virtual trees, bushes, flowers and plant life, says Murphy, allowing users to view the hundreds of posters and attracting hundreds of people a day at its peak. She partnered with Project Jason as a way of expanding the Garden of the Missing’s reach.

 

“Denise didn’t have a missing loved one, nor did she know someone who was missing,” wrote Murphy in her tribute to Harrison. “What she had was a rare gift: someone outside of our circle who truly cared and understood the pain as much as one could without experiencing it themselves.”

 

Murphy was among few who knew about Harrison’s cancer fight.

 

“She decided that her journey with the illness was going to remain private, other than to be shared with immediate family members and a few close friends,” she wrote. “She didn’t want people to feel sorry for her or worry about her. She wanted life all around her to go on as it always had.

 

“Denise bore the hardship of her illness with grace and dignity. She kept working until the end, caring so much about doing a good job and helping others. She told me about the aches and pains and losing her hair, but she never complained; she just explained,” wrote Murphy.

 

Donations in Harrison’s memory can be mailed to:

Project Jason
PO Box 59054
Renton, WA 98058

[Kelly]

The attached file contains the text for Denise's Memorial Service along with several tributes.

Attached Files

•  Denise's Service Program.pdf   3.34MB   2 downloads