Maureen Bear Harmon

Maureen Bear Harmon, 81, of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, passed away on March 17, 2017. She was born in Langdon, North Dakota on October 27, 1935 and was the daughter of the late Robert Bear and Margaret Burke Bear. She was the oldest of nine children. Maureen graduated from North Dakota Agricultural College (now ND State University) in 1957 and was a high school English teacher for a year before marrying James Harmon in 1958 whom she met at the Newman's Center in college. For the first years after they were married they lived on Air Force bases in Michigan and Texas. After Jim was honorably discharged from the Air Force in 1961, they moved to Rochester, New York and started their family - welcoming four children - Taya, Tim, Tricia and Tracie. In 1973, the family moved to San Diego, where Maureen went to graduate school and completed her Master's degree in Library Science. She then worked at Uni High in San Diego and, after the family moved to Connecticut in 1980, she worked as the head librarian at the Henry James Middle School in Simsbury until her retirement in 1996. Jim and Maureen retired to San Diego in 1997. She moved to Colorado in 2013 to live with her daughter Tricia and family. Maureen claimed to be ""mostly"" Irish, loved music, books, and was a published poet – with poems appearing in North Dakota Horizons magazine and her family-published poetry book in the archives at the State Historical Society of North Dakota. She was happiest with family and friends and enjoyed attending performances (especially those where her son Tim was performing), hosting dinners, taking walks, having coffee in ""a real china cup"", talking on the telephone with friends and family, playing with her grandchildren, having a good laugh, baking pies and watching sunsets. Maureen made many cherished friends along the way and was proud to have known and loved so many – treasuring each friend's card, letter, phone call and visit over the years. She was predeceased by her parents, her brother Mark, her infant daughter Tracie, her husband Jim and her son Tim. Maureen is survived by two children: Tricia Beaudreau of Highlands Ranch, CO and Taya Ros of Bridgewater, NJ. She is also survived by six grandchildren. A memorial Mass will be held Monday, March 27, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at Pax Christi Catholic Church, 5761 McArthur Ranch Road, Littleton. Please share memories of Maureen and condolences with her family by signing the guestbook below.