Janet Phillips Harrison, of Virginia Beach, VA, died peacefully on Saturday, March 12, 2016, at the age of 95. Born in 1920 in LaGrange, Ga., she was the fourth and last child of Robert Theodore Phillips and Julia Barnes Phillips.
She grew up in Miami, Fla., and Greenville, S.C., where her father served as an Episcopal minister. Janet attended Randolph Macon Women’s College and Furman University. In 1940, she married William Wright Harrison and the couple moved to Virginia. They resided in the Charlottesville area until 1967 when they moved to Virginia Beach.
Through the years, Janet devoted much of her time to the Episcopal churches that she attended. She was a proficient pianist and was also an organist at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Ivy. She was also quite active in the Virginia Beach Garden Club. She loved playing tennis with her friends at the Princess Anne Country Club. She adored her dogs.
Following the death of her husband in 2001, she moved to Westminster Canterbury on the Bay, where she resided until her death. In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her daughter, Susan Harrison Fitz-Hugh, who lived in Richmond.
She is survived by her son, William W. Harrison Jr., and his wife, Brien, of Virginia Beach; a daughter, Janet Harrison Hinch, and her husband, Rea, of Kilmarnock; and two nieces, Anne Cunningham Williams of Nashville and Cullen Phillips Nutter of Arlington; five grandsons, G. Slaughter Fitz-Hugh III, Richard R. Hinch Jr., Phillips H.H. Hinch, W. Wright Harrison III and Carter R. Harrison; two granddaughters, Meredith Fitz-Hugh McGuire and Katherine Hinch Greene; and 10 great grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 23, at Galilee Episcopal Church, 3928 Pacific Ave., Virginia Beach. A reception will follow in the church parish.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Virginia Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad, 740 Virginia Beach Blvd., Virginia Beach, VA 23451.
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