Harriet Ann Portera passed away Wednesday, December 30, 2020 at Waverly Care Home at the age of 75. She was born February 7, 1945 to the late Rachel Ann Beasley and Dr. Henry Millard Lee. Ann graduated from West Point High School and attended Millsaps College. She earned her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in Elementary Education from Mississippi State University. She loved teaching and taught in the West Point Public School System for 28 years.
Ann was a kind and generous soul who always looked for the good in people. She was an avid reader, who instilled in her beloved students and her children a love of reading. She enjoyed playing bridge and was a talented competitor. She loved to travel with friends and family. She also appreciated a fine cuisine that, according to her, would warm beautifully. Speaking of Ann would not be complete without mentioning her absolute devotion to animals. Any stray or hungry four-legged friend could count on a good home with Ann. As a creative person with an enormous vocabulary, however, her family always found it a source of hilarity that she named her cats such names as Mr. Black Cat, Baby Kitty, and because he had 4 white feet, Socks.
Ann’s family was her life. Her first true loves were her parents, Henry and Rachel. A most devoted daughter, she treasured them and her brother. She was a loving and devoted wife and an attentive and exceptional mother who adored her children and grandchildren.
She is survived by her husband of 52 years, Frank Phillip Portera, Sr; daughter, Florence Lee Portera; son, Frank Phillip Portera, Jr. (Tennille); 2 grandchildren, Foster Katheryn Portera and Frank Phillip Portera, III, “PJ”, all of West Point.
She was preceded in death by her parents; and a brother, Henry Millard “Ike” Lee.
Honorary pallbearers are Max and Wilma Hinshaw, Bob and Nita Wyman, John and Ann Smith, Claud and Kay Passeau, Jim and Davie Doescher, David and Sandra Waide, Chris and Leigh Todd, her travel group, the Divas, Dr. Edmund Miller, Dr. Ned Miller, the staff at Waverly Care Home, and her caregivers, Alicia, Icy, Nikki and Mary. A celebration of life will be held at a later date. Memorials may be made to the West Point/Clay County Animal Shelter at 5122 Old Tibbee Rd West Point, MS 39773.
