Jean Young Harrison, aged 91, passed away on April 14th, 2026, following complications from a fall. A resident since 2021 of The Bridges at Warwick in Jamison, Pa., and a longtime former resident of Washington D.C., she was married for 47 years to Earl G. Harrison, Jr., who died in 2003. She is survived by Dana and Stephanie Harrison, their children Abigail and Niko Harrison, and by Colin and Kathryn Harrison and their children Sarah, Walker, and Julia Harrison. She is also survived by her late sister Katherine McCaw’s four children, Bill McCaw, Alleyne Coleman, Kelly Greiner, and Mary McCaw and their large extended families.
Born Jean Spencer Young on December 4, 1934, in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in Texas, in New Orleans, and Massachusetts. In the summers, she enjoyed camps in the Northeast, where she canoed and sailed. A graduate of the Northampton School for Girls, she matriculated to Bryn Mawr College, where she earned a B.A. in philosophy in 1956. She later earned an M.A. in theater arts at Villanova University.
Jean Harrison’s greatest interest was in theater, and she passionately pursued this vocation in professional off-Broadway roles in New York City, in regional and summer stock productions in the Northeast, and in Philadelphia, where she was a co-founder in 1974 of The Philadelphia Company (now known as The Philadelphia Theatre Company), a troupe that put on plays ranging from Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” to new plays by rising playwrights. She also directed and played roles in Philadelphia Company productions, at the Hedgerow Theater in Rose Valley, Pa., and at Westtown School, where her husband was the headmaster. In her later years she played in productions in Washington, D.C., including in the Kennedy Center, and Baltimore, and served as a private voice coach.
Jean Harrison’s life was marked by her long participation in the theatrical community. She spent decades acting, directing, and raising money for theater organizations. She was known for her graciousness and generosity, her ability to laugh (often at herself), and her wide interest in culture. Her sons enjoyed teasing her and she put up with this with patience and humor. With her late husband, Earl Harrison, she travelled to China, the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America. She also took each of her granddaughters—Sarah, Abigail, and Julia Harrison—on separate trips to England. Hers was a life well lived, and she will be missed.
Services will be private.
