Beloved daughter, sister, wife and mother, Harriet Emma Harris Kraus passed away on Wednesday, March 16, 2016, in Santa Monica, CA, after a long illness. Born near Reedley, CA, to Emma (Hadeler) and James J. Harris, Harriet graduated from Orosi Union High School. After graduating from 4C’s Business College, she went to work for the Fresno County Probation Department. On March 28, 1948, she married Walter “Wally” Kraus, and they had daughter, Marsha, in 1956. Harriet loved being a stay at home mom raising Marsha and keeping busy as a Girl Scout leader, Sunday school teacher and elementary school librarian. She returned to the secretarial work she loved at Santa Fe Railroad in 1971. In November of 1972, Wally passed away unexpectedly. Soon after, Harriet went to work for CAL FIRE and began her decades long love affair with Smokey Bear. After 28 and a half years, she retired from CAL FIRE in 2001. She was also very active in the First Congregational Church of Fresno, where she was an elder. In 2010, she moved to Los Angeles, CA, to be closer to Marsha. She was preceded in death by her parents; her beloved husband Wally; her sister, Mabel Whitehouse; and her brother-in-law, Philip Olson. Harriet is survived by her daughter, Marsha Kraus; her son-in-law, Terry Dickerson; sisters, Betty Olson-Zerounian and husband Jim, and Nancy Flores and husband Mike; brother-in-law, Herbert Whitehouse; sister-in-law, Edna Mae Kraus; and many beloved nieces and nephews.
