Melissa Belle Anderson Harris

Christiansburg, Virginia

Melissa Belle Anderson Harris died at 8:50 pm on June 16, 2025 in Kroontje Healthcare Center in Blacksburg, VA with family at her bedside.

She was born December 4, 1933 to Dr. William Douglas Anderson and Harriett Long Anderson at Stroud, Oklahoma. The family moved to Claremore in 1935 and to Randolph Field, Texas in 1940 when her father entered active duty is the U.S. Army Air Corps as a Flight Surgeon. Returning to Oklahoma in 1945, Melissa graduated from Claremore High School in 1951 and attended the University of Tulsa where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. She spent much of her young adult life in Claremore and Tulsa, OK raising her three daughters and working as a secretary in varied organizations. She remained very close to family throughout her lifetime. She married the love of her life, Samuel Morgan Harris, Jr. and moved to Grove, OK in 1972 where they became an integral part of the community. Together, they worked with others to build St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church; performed in numerous plays and musicals with the Brush and Palette Club and the Grove Community Playmakers; and logged thousands of hours flying their Aircoupe, a small engine airplane. Melissa was an executive secretary and served on the Board of Directors of the Grove PTA, and was a member of Oklahoma Episcopal Church Women, Grove Community Chorale, Grove Brush and Palette Club, Grand Lake Mental Health Center, St. Crispin’s Camp & Conference Center, Grove Community Playmakers, Grove Free Clinic, and DayBreak of Grove, Inc. She was a licensed pilot and enjoyed bridge and golf. Melissa’s faith and the Episcopal Church were grounding forces in her life. She served Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Grove OK in many ways, as a church secretary, director of the altar guild, and member of the choir. She was ordained as a Deacon in the Episcopal Church in 2007, serving at St. Andrew’s Church in Grove, Oklahoma until moving to Virginia in 2015. In Virginia she volunteered for the Children’s Chapel, yard sales, and as a receptionist at Christ Episcopal Church in Blacksburg, VA.

Her parents, her siblings Harriett Anderson Vineyard and Frederick Douglas Anderson, her husband, The Rev. Samuel Morgan Harris, Jr., and her stepdaughter Terri Harris Stout predeceased her.

She is survived by her daughters, Deborah Harris Burchard and her wife Ellie Sturgis of Christiansburg, VA and Mary Harris Rigas of DeKalb, IL; her stepson Samuel Morgan Harris III of Tulsa, OK; and her grandchildren, Nicholas Tyler Rigas, Sophia Melissa Rigas, and Nicole Wishard.

The family will forever be grateful to Kroontje HealthCare Center and Good Samaritan Hospice for the excellent love and care they gave to Melissa and to the family.

Two services are planned. The first will be held on August 16, 2025 at 11:00 am at Christ Episcopal Church in Blacksburg Virginia. The second will be held at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Grove, OK when her ashes will be interred on October 20, 2025 at 2:00 PM.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Building Fund of St. Andrews or to a charity of your choice.

To share memories of Melissa Belle Anderson Harris please visit, www.seaverbrown.com. Care for Melissa has been entrusted to Fraziers’ Seaver-Brown Funeral Service & Crematory, 237 East Main Street, Marion VA 24354.