Roberline (Robbie) Mary Ann Harris (Allen) was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on February 4, 1924, the second of four sisters (Louise, Velma Jane and Charline) and daughter to Robert Louis Allen and Rachel Gossett Allen, both of Memphis.
During World War II, Roberline worked at the Federal Reserve Bank War Bond Department, in Memphis. She also served as a volunteer facilitating hundreds of military service members’ transportation transfers at the Memphis train stations.
After the war, Roberline attended both the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and Memphis State University and was awarded a fellowship for graduate study at the University of Tennessee. She and Joseph D. Harris of Cookeville, Tennessee, were married on October 21, 1951, after completion of their graduate studies.
Roberline and Joe returned to Memphis, where Joe was employed as a government economist, and she worked as a computer programmer for the United States Air Force. In time, Joe accepted a position with the newly established National Aeronautics and Space Administration in Huntsville, Alabama. A housing shortage in Huntsville led to their settling in the small neighboring community of Arab, where they built a house and raised their beloved daughter Bronwyn.
Roberline was active in the community, serving many years on the Arab Public Library Board, was a founding member of the Sock and Buskin Players theater group and a longtime member of the Church of the Epiphany Episcopal church in Guntersville. Roberline was a deeply talented artist, specializing in portraiture. She was a committed ally for animals.
After Joe’s passing in 1996, Roberline remained in Arab until 2013, when she relocated to Huntsville.
She is survived by her daughter, Bronwyn Hansel, grandchildren Jared and Jordan Hansel, sister Charline McGee, and many blessed nieces, nephews and great nieces and nephews.
A public memorial service will be held at 2:00 pm on October 26, 2023, at the Church of the Epiphany in Guntersville, Alabama.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations for the benefit of the Arab Public Library and the Arab Animal Shelter.
