Marie Harris, April 2, 2026
Beloved wife of the late William I. Harris. Dear mother of Rabbi Maurice D. (Melissa Crabbe) Harris. Loving grandmother of Clarice D. Harris and Hunter W. Harris. Beloved great-grandmother of Michael Rowell. Dear sister of Semadar Kostika, Yossi (Ricki) Elkouby, Albert (Carmella) Elkouby, Mayer (Ruti) Elkouby, Moshe Elkouby, Zehava Deletes, Clara (Boaz) Feinberg, Dahlia Falcon, and the late Giselle Cohen, Eli Elkouby, and Rahel Madjar. Loving sister-in-law of the late Lenore Schulein and Robert Harris. Beloved daughter of the late Haim Laziz and Messouda Elkouby. Our dear aunt, cousin and friend to many.
Marie Harris was born November 11, 1937, in Casablanca, Morocco, to Haim Laziz and Messouda. One of 12 siblings, she was raised in part by her great-grandmother, Shtita, and survived the Nazi-Vichy occupation of Morocco. As a teenager, during the Moroccan revolution, her father’s business was closed. Marie supported her family by working at a U.S. Army base before she and her family had to flee abruptly to a French refugee camp in 1956. From there, her family moved to Israel.
In 1961, Marie moved to St. Louis to live with her aunt and uncle, Rosette and Alfred Ellman. While studying English, she modeled jewelry at Helzberg’s, sending her earnings to her family in Israel. She married William in 1966, and in 1969, they welcomed their only child, Maurice. Marie supported her parents and family in Israel with all her means throughout her adult life. This was her proudest accomplishment.
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A talented cook, renowned hostess, and skilled esthetician, Marie built a vibrant network of friends and clients. Following William’s passing in 1987, she worked as a pregnancy crisis counselor at Reproductive Health Services in the Central West End, where she was known for her skill in handling difficult cases.
Marie moved to Las Vegas in 1995. She spent 30 years enjoying the desert sun, traveling frequently to Israel, and celebrating major family milestones, including Maurice’s marriage to Melissa Crabbe in 1999 and his rabbinical ordination in 2003.
Marie was a devoted grandmother to Clarice and Hunter, and in 2019, she welcomed her great-grandson, Michael. In her later years, she enjoyed a wonderful friendship with the late Lloyd Platt. In 2025, she moved to Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, to be near her son and daughter-in-law. Supported by her dedicated caregivers – Hope Davis, LaToya Williams, Tonya Jackson, Stacey Walker and Stephanie Chout, she passed away peacefully with Maurice and Melissa by her side.
Marie was fluent in Arabic, French, Hebrew and English. She loved people who were down to earth and kindhearted. She was deeply devoted to Israel and longed for peace and coexistence in the Middle East. She was a force to be reckoned with and will be intensely missed.
PLEASE NOTE SERVICE TIME HAS CHANGED. Graveside service Tuesday, April 7, 3:00 p.m. at B’nai Amoona Cemetery, 930 North and South Road. Contributions in Marie’s memory may be made to Hadassah, https://tinyurl.com/honormarieharris (800-928-0685) – please specify “Youth Aliyah program serving at-risk youth in Israel” under the gift designation or to Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, ppgr.org, (800-430-4907) – please select the ‘Memorial Gift’ option. For more information or to access the live stream, please visit www.rindskopfroth.com.
