Alice Jones Harris was born July 19, 1934, In El Paso, Texas, to Mr. and Mrs. George and Lillian Jones. Alice lived on the Double Circle Ranch in Eagle Creek, Arizona, where her father George Jones was a rancher and ran large numbers of cattle there until 1936. Due to financial and governmental issues, George then moved 22,000 head of cattle to a ranch close to Chihuahua, Mexico.
Alice and her sister Sargie, while living in Mexico, became fluent in Spanish. The sisters were enrolled in Loretto, a boarding school In El Paso. It was there that Alice embraced her affection for soft teddy bears. The nuns of the school reached out to Lillian and told her that Alice was very homesick, and she needed to be picked up. Alice went home for a weekend and returned to school with a teddy bear in her arms. Her love for the little fuzzy friends became a great comfort to her and that lasted throughout her life as she held one through her last months in bed. She affectionately named him “Beau Bear,” and he literally never left her side.
The Jones family moved back to Marfa, Texas, in 1940 to continue to live and run cattle on the Billingsley Ranch and ultimately settled on the Kelly Ranch. While attending school In Marfa, Alice was the only student to ride a donkey to school. His name was “Long Ears,” and that was just another unique fact that caused Alice to stand out in a crowd. Alice’s parents decided to send the girls off to school again, this time in Dallas, Texas. Sargie and Alice attended Hockaday, a school at which Alice participated in several sports, including field hockey (her favorite), field ball, diving, theater and choir. She excelled and was the captain of her field hockey team. Lillian, an entrepreneur of her time, in order to pay for the cost of Hockaday, opened a cantina on the Jeff Davis County line (Presidio County was a dry county.)
Alice was introduced to Bryant Harris at the age of 17 by a friend who later became Sargie’s husband. They went their separate ways to attend college, with Alice attending the University of Arizona, and Bryant attending Texas Tech University.
They reconnected and went on their first date in August of 1958, on a ranch in New Mexico near Magdalena. They stopped while driving back to the ranch house, and as God began uniting their hearts, they beheld a beautiful meteor shower. Bryant said, “The stars fell like rain.” This began their journey together that lasted 87 years on this earth but continues today through the incredible legacy left by Alice.
They were married on November 28, 1958, at the Billingsley Ranch located 18 miles from Marfa, Texas. Alice and Bryant lived In Lubbock, Texas, for a short time, then Montana for vehicle maintenance school for Bryant’s Air Force training. They then moved to Petaluma, California, for 22 months before returning to the land Alice loved, ultimately staying, and ranching on the Kelly Ranch at the foot of Mt. Livermore in the Davis Mountains.
One of Alice’s favorite verses was Psalm 121, “I lift up my eyes to the mountains — where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
She loved her life as a rancher’s daughter, riding bareback, and as a rancher’s wife and mother of her children surrounded by the beauty of God’s creation.
Alice had six children, five who lived with her and Bryant for 17 years on the Kelly Ranch. Sarah, her last child, came early and went to be with her Maker after only three days. Michele, Holly, Amy, Ruthy and Andrew experienced so many amazing adventures with their resourceful, loving, talented mom who always put her family before herself every single day.
Alice’s love for theater continued through multiple outlets. She directed and had roles in several melodramas in the community, famous for her role as Mustache Agnus. She was an incredible seamstress; thus her talents were used in making elaborate costumes for Halloween, one-act plays and skits to be performed at Bloy’s Camp Meeting. She had a way of making everything better, funnier, and just plain fun, bringing light and laughter to the souls of those around her.
4H speeches and poetry were important to her; she loved to see her children learn to overcome fear by being involved in speaking or acting events. She drove her children all over the state of Texas for stock shows (even pulling big trailers), UIL events, and LOTS of tennis tournaments. She had a love of tennis herself and as her kids got older, with her natural athleticism, she quickly became a good tennis player.
Difficult decisions were made, and in 1977, the family then moved to Brownwood, Texas. There they began a new adventure with the Ike Groce family. Ike was the high school tennis coach there. After Amy’s state finalist appearance in the UIL state tournament, the family then moved to Kerrville, ultimately ending up in San Antonio, Texas.
Alice became affectionately known as “Mil” which stands for mother-in-law, courtesy of Rick Perry (son-in-law married to her daughter Holly.) Mil and Pa-Paw (Bryant) lived and loved their home in San Antonio for 44 years. Mil had such a way of making anyone feel like family, and in fact adopted so many along the way, even having some live with them for periods of time. One of Mil’s favorite sayings was, “I love you anyway.” She adopted many kids as their “mom” and touched them with her steady, unconditional, penetrating, and accepting way of loving as only she could do. Bryant often has said that she taught us all how to love.
Mil’s last year, and especially the last eight months were filled with some very difficult and hard times. Her legacy of strength, faith, unfailing love and perseverance that she had sown into the lives of her husband, children and grandchildren provided opportunities for them to give back to her. Andrew and Bryant lived this journey every single day, laying their lives down, taking on the multifaceted needs that come with home care. God provided help from outside the family as well, for which they were very thankful. As the family struggled to walk the journey (and as she almost exclusively reverted to speaking fluent Spanish), the most amazing miracles began to happen in the hearts of all who were privileged to care for her, her immense love that knew no boundaries, her ability to see the good, and her own struggle with letting go of all those she loved so deeply forever impacted them and the generations to come.
Mil and Pa-Paw have 19 grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren. The family is so thankful for every day Mil lived on this earth, and she will live on through her family, and as Proverbs 31 states: “Her children and her husband rise up and call her blessed –– because to her, family was everything.
A graveside service to honor Alice’s life and legacy was held at Marfa City Cemetery in Marfa on March 14, 2024.Online condolences may be left at: www.alpinememorialfuneralhome.com Services have been entrusted to Alpine Memorial Funeral Home in Alpine, Texas.