Harrison, Karla Heurich King, Age 106. Karla Heurich King Harrison died on January 21, 2014 at the age of 106 at Fox Hill Assisted Living in Bethesda, MD. A 60 year resident of Clearwater Beach, FL, she was the widow of Brig. Gen. Eugene L. Harrison (USMA, '23) who died in 1981. Her first husband, Col. Charles Bowler King (USMA '28) was killed in action on June 22, 1944 in Normandy, France, where he is buried. She is survived by children Jan A.K. Evans (Mrs. William D. Houser), Charles Bowler King, Jr., and Donald C.H. King; grandchildren Karla Evans MacMahon, Louise Evans Turner, Charles Bowler King, III, and Jennifer L. King; great-grandchildren Adela Evans Griswold, Austin Evans Turner, Benjamin B. Turner, Edward B. MacMahon, III, Alexandra Heurich MacMahon, Caroline King, and Amy King; nieces Amelia Eckles Lord and Constance Ann Heurich Hogan; and nephews Christian Heurich, III and Gary F. Heurich. She was predeceased by siblings Christian Heurich, Jr. and Anita Eckles. Mrs. Harrison was born on October 20, 1907 to Christian and Amelia Heurich at 1307 New Hampshire Avenue NW in Dupont Circle, Washington, DC. Mr. Heurich, a noted German-born brewer and philanthropist who was also the District's largest non-governmental employer and landowner, died at the age of 102 in 1945. The Heurich family's home is now a decorative arts and history museum, The Heurich House Museum. Also known as the "Brewmaster's Castle", the house was gifted by Mrs. Heurich to the Historical Society of Washington and it served as its headquarters for 47 years. This national landmark and DC's first fireproof home is considered one of the most intact late-Victorian houses in the country. Mrs. Harrison celebrated her daughter's 80th birthday at the museum in 2012. Mrs. Harrison attended Force Elementary Grammar School near the present site of the Brookings Institution on Massachusetts Avenue and Western High School (now Duke Ellington High School) in Washington. She was a graduate of Connecticut College in New London, CT, and received her Master's degree in zoology from George Washington University. With Col. King, she resided at Ft. Benning, GA, Honolulu, HI, Plattsburg Barracks, NY and West Point, NY, and Washington, DC. With General Harrison (m. January 15, 1946), she lived in Washington, DC, Kyoto, Japan, Ft. Riley, KS, Camp McCoy, WI, and Clearwater Beach, FL. Mrs. Harrison was a conservationist, an environmentalist, an ornithologist and an avid bird-watcher, and she also became a master of Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging. She spoke and read Japanese, and was an avid collector of Japanese art and antiques. She worked briefly as a scientific illustrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture before marrying Col. King. A noted athlete, she was the Washington, DC tennis champion in 1924, a crack rifler, talented golfer, and the founder with Col. King of West Point's skeet shooting club. Memorial donations may be made to Mrs. Harrison's endowment for the Heurich House Museum through the Heurich House Foundation, 1307 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 and to the Karla Heurich Harrison '28 Directorship Fund,(Environmental), Connecticut College, 270 Mohegan Avenue, New London, CT 06320
.Arrangements under the direction of Joseph Gawler's Sons LLC, Washington, DC.
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