Sheila V. Harper Obituary
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Sheila V. Harper
TL Hutton Family & Friends Funeral Services
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Sheila V. Harper
Westampton - Sheila V. Harper of Westampton, N.J., passed away suddenly in the early hours of Jan. 4, 2022, at Virtua Memorial Hospital in Mount Holly, N.J. She was 73.
Born May 29, 1948, in Philadelphia, Sheila was the fourth child of the late Edward Underwood and Sarah Frances Wright. A month after Sheila’s birth, the Wrights left the City of Brotherly Love and relocated their growing family to East Riverton, N.J.
Educated in the Cinnaminson and Palmyra school systems, Sheila graduated from Palmyra High School in 1966 and enrolled at Temple University in Ambler, Pa. It was during high school, though, that Sheila, who was known for her style and grace, met her best friend and the love of her life, Garfield Harper Jr., a.k.a. Harp, in 1965. They were united in holy matrimony on July 25, 1970, and five years later, they started their own trucking business and went on the road together.
While successfully running the trucking company, Sheila also began her 30-plus-year career as a proofreader and copy editor – first at Reuben H. Donnelley (in Philadelphia and Havertown, Pa.) where she eventually became the supervisor of the proofreaders. She became a mother at age 29, with the birth of her son, Marques, a journalist and writer. The family of three lived in Riverside, N.J., before moving to their home in Westampton, N.J., in 1981.
By then, she had returned to work as a proofreader at Datapro Information Services, a division of the former McGraw-Hill Companies, in Delran, N.J., and she later became a copy editor for the company and its successor, Gartner, before she retired in 2009.
When she was 36, Sheila was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. For the remaining decades of her life, she courageously battled the progression of the disease while continuing to enjoy her life with her husband, son, family, friends and her church family.
Sheila joined St. Mary Street United Methodist Church of Burlington, N.J., in 1971 and remained an active member through her recent hospitalization. On some Sunday mornings during the pandemic, she led the church in the scripture reading from her bedside at home via teleconference. Sheila also served on the church’s trustee board for many years and was a member of the pastor’s staff relations committee and the secretary to the United Methodist Women’s fellowship.
She was active with her husband in the Teamsters Local 384 union in Norristown, Pa., and she belonged to the Teamsters National Black Caucus. She also supported the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Sheila is survived by her devoted husband of 51 ½ years, Garfield, her loving son, Marques, her brothers, Richard Wright (Eileen), and Marvin Wright, her sisters, Barbara Cobb (Robert), Elaine Davis (Robert), Sandra Morris, and Marilyn Whittington (Elwood), as well as many nephews, nieces, cousins, family members and friends.
Celebration of her life: Tuesday, January 18, 2022 11AM (Family Only) at St. Mary’s Street UM Church, 483 St. Mary Street, Burlington, NJ. Walk through viewing will be 10 AM until time of service. Interment: BGWCD Veteran Memorial Cemetery. Service of Comfort to the family by The TL Hutton Family & Friends Funeral Services, 869 Beverly Road, Burlington, NJ.
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