Diana L Harrison Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

DIANA LASSEN HARRISON British-born Diana Lassen Harrison, wife of the late Paul Harrison M.D. and former resident of Haverford, Pa. and later Moorestown, NJ died peacefully at the age of 94 on May 30, 2019 at Evergreens of Moorestown. She is survived by five children – Diana Harrison Comber, John Robbins Hart Harrison and his wife Lydia Lehr , Paul Harrison Jr and his wife Jeanne Abboud , Pamela Harrison Musulin and her husband Christopher Musulin and Susan Harrison Reid and her husband Paul Reid ; six grandchildren; three great grandchildren; and English relatives including a niece Judith Lassen Coops and nephew Jonathan Lassen. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on 28 September 2019 at the Moorestown Monthly Meeting. In place of flowers, donations in her memory can be made to The Alzheimer’s Society. Diana Lassen Harrison was born on 3rd April 1925 to Nora Perkins Lassen and Eric John Lassen of Bradford, Yorkshire, following the birth of her only sibling, a brother John. When Diana entered her teenage years, the specter of a German invasion of England appeared so imminent by 1940 that her parents entered their 15-year-old daughter into a scheme to evacuate children to America. Once Stateside, she was fostered by a New York-based English family who enrolled her in the Westtown School, a Quaker-founded coed boarding school in Pennsylvania where she decided to become a musician. However, after graduating in 1943, she returned to England on what was then hailed as the biggest convoy of World War II, with some 88 ships sailing out of New York. Diana lived back in her home country for the next five years where she studied nursing and thereafter joined the WRENS, the women’s branch of Britain’s Royal Navy. During one of her postings, she worked at the country’s famous Bletchley Park, where – unbeknownst to her – she was helping to crack the secret Enigma code used by the Germans to communicate highly classified military information during the War. After it ended, Diana left the Navy to develop herself as a pianist at a London Conservatory. However, a former Westtown classmate Paul Harrison, by then an aspiring young surgeon, showed up on her British doorstep in 1946 and they were married two years later. Thus, began her long-term residency in the USA and ongoing visits back to the UK to ensure that all of her and Paul’s five children would grow up to appreciate their English as well as their American heritage. Despite a very busy home life, Diana became involved in various outside organizations including the former Burlington County Memorial Hospital Women’s Auxiliary, the Moorestown Friends School Committee, Daughters of the British Empire and English-Speaking Union. She especially loved classical music, regularly attended the Philadelphia Orchestra and continued playing the piano into her early 90s. She also enjoyed tennis, golf (and putting competitions until she hit 90) as well as bridge. Her favorite pastime – beyond taking care of her relationships with family and friends -- remained walking in the Yorkshire Dales. Diana spent much of her life travelling between two continents to maintain close connections with family and friends on both. She will be deeply missed and fondly remembered by all who knew her. Today, the family wish to express their heartfelt thanks and appreciation for the ongoing messages of sympathy and support which have been received as news of her passing has spread. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. September 28, 2019 at the Moorestown Monthly Meeting House,Main St. Moorestown, NJ. In place of flowers, donations in her memory can be made to The Alzheimer’s Society.