Bertha George Harris

Bertha George Harris died on October 14, 2014, at the age of 101, as the oldest member of the Catawba. Her funeral was held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the Catawba Indian Nation reservation. Gilbert Blue, the former Chief of the Catawba from 1977 to 2007, was raised with Harris' children. He paid tribute to Harris telling a reporter, "I spoke with her about her position as the oldest several times, and she held that to be important... Bertha Harris recognized what her status as the oldest meant, and not only did it make her feel something good and important, it made all of us feel good." Present Catawba Chief Bill Harris, her great-nephew, also paid tribute to her noting, "Of the Catawba people, of the people who have been here on this patch of ground for all these centuries, she was the oldest among us... That is truly a remarkable idea–that a person was the oldest of all of us on the entire earth. That was always for her and all of us a great, even sacred, honor." According to members of the Catawba, she considered it an honor to be the oldest living elder. She was survived by five of her seven children: three daughters and two sons. Frances Wade, who was 92 years old in October 2014, became the oldest Catawba elder following Harris' death.