Louise, the seventh child and baby girl of Charlie Robert and Amie (Wyche) Mitchell, was born on March 9, 1924. Louise should have been named "Louisa" after her paternal grandmother, but the midwife mistakenly wrote down Louise. At a very young age though we're not quite sure how, Louise acquired the nickname "Teedy," which has stuck with her even to this day. When asked who gave her that name she say's "I don't know whether it was Mama, Papa or Uncle Buck," whom she fondly remembers living with the family for a while.

Louise grew up in Garysburg, North Carolina and has lived there most of her life. She received her education in the Northampton County public schools. She is a graduate of Coats High. Louise was known as the family baby-sitter. She kept some of her younger siblings, nieces, nephews and neighbors. There were times in her life when Louise took some of her nieces and nephews in her home to live.

On April 17, 1944, Louise married a neighbor and family friend by the name of Leroy Harris. Leroy, her beau, was a brown skinned, green eyed thin man known to some as Leroy Bottom and "Turnip Salad" to others. This was a name that he was teasingly called because Leroy was reared by his second cousins, Mr. and Mrs. Turner Bottom. Louise and Leroy met as a result of friendships that he shared with several of her brothers. Soon after they married, Leroy joined the United States Army. They moved to Fort Benning in Georgia for a few months. That train ride was Louise's first as well as her first time away from home, and she was very excited. It wasn't long before Leroy had gone off to war and they returned to Garysburg to make a home for themselves and start their own family. To this union five children were born: Audrey, Robert, John, Hattie and Ronald.

Here's a little known story about Louise the child. One day while playing in the cotton field Louise saw a "fever worm" crawling on her shoulder inching towards her neck. The frightened Louise crazed with fear jumped on her older brother Willis' back and bit him. Willis began fighting to get her off of him, and when he did their father Charlie Robert Mitchell nearly "killed Willis for messing with that baby." What a kid, huh?

Louise spent the first fifteen years or more of their marriage working in the home. During a portion of that time she and her children were hired out to do farm work while Leroy did public work outside the home. Around 1960 Louise began working at Gumberry High School as a housekeeper/custodian and cafeteria cook. She also worked in a dry cleaners doing alterations. Her job at the dry cleaners allowed her to use skills which she had developed doing one thing she loved, sewing. When her children were younger she made all of their clothes. Louise was an excellent seamstress. She could recreate a dress just from looking at a picture, and the patterns she'd cut from paper bags and newspapers. Louise made halter tops before they were the style. She was an original designer creating night gowns and bed-boots for her children and grandchildren, and believe it or not Hattie still has one in use. Donna Karen eat your heart out. Later in her career, Louise worked as a home health care provider. What a woman!

Louise passed away on October 21, 2012 after a long battle with Alzheimers Disease.