Longtime resident of Anchorage, Alaska, 104-year-old Stella Harman (Estella Anna Mosman) died peacefully at her home Thursday, Dec. 11, 2024. She was a devout Catholic and raised her family accordingly.
A rosary for her was recited at the Blessed Sacrament Monastery in Anchorage, Monday, Dec. 16th. There she was honored for having been the first Associate Adorer of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Anchorage in 2018. Since then, the Association of the Laity has grown to 50 members.
A funeral Mass followed the rosary at Holy Spirit Retreat Center.
Stella was born August 28, 1920, in Uniontown, (the fourth of six children) to Albert and Mary (Wissink) Mosman. Her siblings were Bernadine (Fuchs), Ray, Loretta (Fox), Jean (Wemhoff) and Clarence (CJ).
She married Delbert Harman in Nezperce, on Oct. 30, 1944. They raised 10 children, Jerry, Marilyn, Gordon, Randy, Rick, Don, Greg, Ed, David and Lori. Del worked on the railroad in Pasco where the two oldest kids were born. They moved from there to Lewiston where Del worked at the mill and two more kids were born. From there they moved to Cottonwood, where they farmed and ran a dairy. The remaining kids were born there. In 1968, they sold the farm and moved to Moses Lake, where Del worked at Courtright Cattle Company in Warden, Wash. From Moses Lake they moved in 1979 to Anchorage where Del started up D&S Concrete, a manhole manufacturing company. The folks sold the company to their sons, Ed and David, prior to Del’s death in 1990. Ed and David have subsequently retired and sold the company to David’s sons, Josh and Chase, who are growing the business by offering additional concrete products. So, D&S is still going strong today.
Stella was a stay at home mom most of her life. She worked in the cafeteria at schools in both Moses Lake and Anchorage when the youngest kids finally got into school. In her later life she lived for TV game shows and playing (and, beating at) rummy with anyone who would engage with her. In her last years she only went out of the house on Sunday for Mass and Saturday to get her hair fixed. She retained her wit and comical sense of humor to the end. She was known for her many funny sayings (which we refer to as “Momisms”).
She was preceded in death by her husband, Del, all five of her siblings and their spouses, her sons, Greg and Randy, her grandchildren, Annie and Aaron Harman, a great-grandchild, Jared Sonnen, and a grandson in-law, Rodney Grant.
She is survived by her children, Jerry (Mary Ellen), Marilyn DeFord (Elmer), Gordon (Marilyn), Rick (Rose), Don (Virginia), David (Gail) and Lori Herbert (John); plus many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.
Burial along side her husband, Del, is scheduled for the spring at 10 a.m. Alaskan Daylight Time, Friday, June 6, at Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery, 535 E. Ninth Ave., Anchorage.
