Dorothy MorrisMar 28, 1930 - Dec 24, 2019Dorothy "Dottie" Morris died peacefully at home during her morning nap on December 24, 2019. She was 89. She was preceded in death by her husband Bill, who died just four months earlier in August. They were married 66 years.
Born in Idaho Falls, Idaho, to parents William and Mary Hersley, she was one of three daughters. Raised on a potato farm, she and her sisters Millie and Katie rode their father's Belgian work horses to school with warm potatoes in their pockets during snowy winters. On the farm Dot was given the chores a brother would have traditionally handled, had there been one. She loved the fresh air and animals but hated butchering the chickens.
Her father died when she was ten and she moved into town with her mother and sisters where the grocery store, school and church were within walking distance; they never owned a car. She graduated from Idaho Falls High School (Go Spuds!) and then attended Sacred Heart Hospital Nursing School in Spokane, Washington where she graduated as a registered nurse.
Dottie married her husband Bill in 1953. After living briefly in Connecticut and New Orleans, they moved to Fremont, California and raised four kids, Steve, Carol, Mary Kate and Bill. When the kids were older, she went back to work as a nurse at Serra Center where she cared for developmentally-disabled adults.
Dottie had boundless energy. Her children recall the hum of her Singer each night as she sewed a prom dress, a tailored suit worthy of Vogue Magazine, or a Halloween costume for one of the grandkids. She was an accomplished cook and prepared exquisite meals and desserts for all. In later years, a family dinner could be for eighteen. Every year she made delicious jams and pies from the apricot orchards that still dotted the neighborhood. Her paella is legendary as are the homemade cinnamon rolls that were a Christmas morning tradition.
Together, mom and dad shared endless home improvement projects: refinishing floors, wallpapering rooms, re-upholstering furniture and keeping a beautiful garden. Both a musician and artist, Dottie played Bach and Debussy on the piano at home and was an organist during Mass at St. Joseph's Church in Mission San Jose for many years. She dabbled in watercolors and acrylics, and was an avid bridge player, playing three or four times a week with friends whom she greatly treasured and appreciated. She inspired her children and grandchildren to be adventurous, creative and always genuine.
We will never forget mom's grace and cheer as she faced illness and disability over the last few years of her life. Never a complaint; she was always more interested in talking about us kids and her grandkids than discussing her infirmities. She loved to laugh. She was the heart and soul of our family to the very end. She still is.
She is forever loved by her children and her grandchildren Peter, Kim, Alex, and TJ (Steve and Sandy); Aidan and Alex (Carol and Pat); Willy (Mary Kate and Dan); and Jocie (Bill and Jane).
The family is very grateful for the care and kindness Dottie received from Joanne Falkenburg, Christine Raymond and colleagues at the Palo Alto Clinic, all the caregivers from Bridge Hospice and from Mila, Helena and Johnna who cared for mom at home during the last months of her life.