In Loving Memory of Trenna Harris
Celebrating the Life of Trenna Harris ~ Visitation & Funeral Arrangements
Contributions in Trenna’s memory that will be gifted to the Harris family can be made by sending directly via PayPal to donate@voicesoflife.org or on our secure contributions site here.
With deep sadness and regret, we announce the passing of one of our founding members, Trenna Harris. She was a warm ray of sunshine, shining deep into the souls of many. We remember her wit and whimsy as she lived life fully and completely with all it has to offer, the devilish glint in her eyes as she was about to spill a fun little secret or tell you some juicy tidbit, and her peals of laughter that were usually accompanied by a few small teardrops of Joy.
In the years I knew her, she never met a challenge she was not willing to face head on. She was a delight to be around and, in her experience with ongoing pain, she had her own unique way of giving an “I don’t like this but I’m putting up with it for now.” face on and you couldn’t help but grin a little because you could see the fight in her eyes as her determined spirit rose up to meet the challenge of the day. Often self-deprecating in her humor, she lived life as an open book while celebrating all it has to offer.
Simply put, Voices of Life would not be where it is today without her. She gave her whole heart to embrace others through their pain while often suffering quietly through the same experience in private. While sitting through portions of deep conversation that weren’t quite in her interest categories, she would quietly shift to reading a book on her phone or browsing Facebook. I’d quietly lean over in a pause of conversation to ask if she was okay and she’d just grin and say, “I’ll rejoin when it’s my turn again.” True to form and without missing a beat, she would jump right back into the conversation when the boring and mundane bits of business were complete and the tasks related to the heart and helping others in a more practical way resumed. It was an instant transformation from relaxed to fully engaged in brainstorming ways to reach out to and help more people.
Giving of herself was genetic, encoded deeply into the DNA of Trenna’s character. The natural way she, with confidence and boldness, loved and cared for others was stunning to witness. This was not a learned behavior to meet others’ expectations on what they thought she should be or how she should act. She loved instinctively and compassionately, without limits and with open arms. If you were in pain, she was in pain. If you were celebrating, she rejoiced with you wholeheartedly with joy and exuberance.
When we unexpectedly lost my father in 2017, using only her heart and a deep compassion for others, she reached out immediately and helped me to pick up the pieces and move forward along the path of grief to becoming whole again. After major surgeries and late night ER trips, she was always the first to check-in to see how I was doing and always one of the last to finally settle in and go to sleep after hearing in a late-night three to four in the morning update that I was headed home. She’d say, “Okay, I can sleep now. Love you and let me know if you need anything.”
When it came to members posting incidents in our private support group, she was typically the first to comment, regardless of the time of day, in support of their situation and then would text, call or message me to say, “Hey, did you see so and so’s post?” and the conversation immediately shift to if and how we could help.
Last night, on my way home from another late-night ER visit of my own, I broke down. Not because of my situation, but because I didn’t have that text or message notification I’ve been blessed to be able to appreciate over the years. I couldn’t call and give her the update I knew she would have been waiting to hear. All I had to hold on to was a strangely silent phone.
Since the unexpected revelation of her passing, I have been struggling. Not just in grief, but in finding the right words to honor her memory and all she encompassed in this world to myself and to members of Voices of Life . I have failed to find them. There simply aren’t enough available to describe who and what she was to so many.
What I’ve come to realize is that her kindness and generosity of spirit will never fade because she was timeless. Her spirit will live on through us because Trenna embedded herself into our lives in a way that time can never remove. In life, she was timeless in a way few are able to navigate because she always made time for you.
Being timeless is the crowning jewel in the story of her life and, as an avid reader, I believe she would appreciate “Trenna the Timeless” as the working title for an unauthorized biography of a life well lived. The life she led is now being celebrated; one full of unconditional love that flowed freely to everyone she encountered.
Trenna, the void you are leaving behind in our hearts is vast and we love you.
Until we meet again, your friend,
Vernon Dennis
Please continue to keep her husband, children, grandchildren, and host of family and friends in your prayers in the coming days, weeks, and months ahead. Both the visitation and funeral will be held at Irwin Chapel Funeral Homes, 591 Glen Crossing Road, Glen Carbon, IL 62034.
Visitation will be from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM on Saturday the 15th of August and the funeral will be held at 11:00 AM on Sunday the 16th of August. Her final resting place will be at the Glen Carbon Cemetery.
The official obituary will be posted and may viewed by visiting the Irwin Chapel Funeral Homes website. (Note: It may take a few hours for their system to refresh.)
If you have photos that include Trenna from social gatherings with Voices of Life, please consider emailing them to admin@voicesoflife.org along with a story of your encounters with her and we will forward them to the Harris family.
