Lora Ann Harris Sheridan

Lora A. Sheridan was born on July 26, 1933, in Auburndale, MA to Lora E. (Nicolson) and Charles F. Harris. Ten years later, her father was killed when the troopship Dorchester was sunk by a German sub off the coast of Greenland; he had been with a civilian group planning to build an airbase there. By that time the family was living in Wakefield, MA and had grown to include three children, one just a year old. Fortunately, their mother had previously been trained as a secretary and had several years of work experience, so she took over as breadwinner. All the children went through the Wakefield public schools and Lora Ann graduated in 1951 from Wakefield High. 

She went to college, first to Colby College in Waterville, ME and later to Lowell Teacher's College in Lowell, MA, from which she graduated in 1956. Loras began teaching the following autumn, fourth grade, in Wakefield. Two years later she took a teaching job in Maracaibo Venezuela at an elementary school run by oil companies there. That summer she and a companion traveled to Europe and toured Spain, France, Sweden, the Soviet Union, Germany, and Italy.

Back teaching in Wakefield, Lora met a fellow choir singer, Charles J. Sheridan and in July of 1961, they were married in the Congregational church there. They adopted two children, Danny and Melissa, as the 60s evolved, as well as an old Victorian house, and membership in the Universalist church, all still in Wakefield.

However, in the spring of 1967, Charlie, who was a civilian lawyer with the Army Corps of Engineers in Waltham MA, saw a job opportunity he couldn't refuse - a chance to join a 3-person legal team in Okinawa, Japan that was charged with preparing legal options for the upcoming reversion to Japan. So, in June of that year, he was off to Okinawa and in October, the rest of the family followed him.

In 1969 the Sheridans returned to the States, Washington, DC, where Charlie had a job at the Corps main office and they all settled in Olney, MD, where they lived for the next 46 years. The children went through Montgomery County schools, married and acquired children of their own; and Lora found part-time work in the Piano Shop in the District and later full-time for the FDA in Rockville, MD.

In 1994, Charlie and Lora retired and enjoyed various hobbies - Lora took up writing poetry - as well as travelling to Hawaii, Ireland, France and on a musical tour with WBJC that included Amsterdam and London. They had nearly 20 good retirement years before Charlie developed symptoms of Parkinsons and the couple moved to Asbury Methodist Village, a continual care facility. Charlie died in 2017. 

Besides her husband, Lora was preceded in death by her daughter, Melissa in 2015. Survivors include her son, Daniel (Jill); grandson, Brendan (Ally); great-granddaughter, Emma, and great-grandson, Oliver, as well as a brother and many nieces and nephews. 

Services will be private. 

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