Carolyn “Bunny” (Collins) Harrison, 86, passed away peacefully on Saturday, November 28, 2020, of respiratory disease and COVID.
Bunny was born February 20, 1934 in St. Joseph, Missouri to Ralph and Charlotte Collins, the last of six children. She acquired the childhood nickname “Bunny” during happy times spent visiting a family farm in Helena, Missouri and chasing the animals there.
Bunny spent her adult life in the Kansas City metropolitan area, most recently in Overland Park, Kansas. As a young woman, she worked as a telephone operator, and played on a women’s basketball team and a softball team. She married Harry F. Harrison, Jr. in June 1958. They lived their early married life near Churchill Downs, in Louisville, Kentucky, inspiring a lifelong love of horse racing. He preceded her in death in 2015 after 57 years of marriage.
Bunny loved gardening, sewing and crafting, and going “estate sailing” in search of a great find. She is survived by her three daughters, Christy (Rick) Teich, Nancy (Ralph Biersmith) Harrison, and Kimberley Harrison; two grandchildren, Nicholas and Kayla Teich; two siblings, Virginia Fisher, and Ralph Collins (Brother Frederic of the Abbey of Gethsemani); numerous nieces and nephews, and loving friends.
A celebration of life will be held at a later date. Plant a flower this spring in her memory.
