Daisy Mildred Jones Morris' Obituary
Friends, family, and associates recall longtime Longview resident Daisy Mildred Morris, who died at her home May 2 at the age of 103, as a ?true Southern lady.?
Services for the former teacher, world traveler, and local arts and community patron are scheduled for 10 a.m. May 7 at the First Presbyterian Church of Longview.
Mrs. Morris and husband, Curtis, came to Longview in 1930, where he worked for the East Texas Chamber of Commerce, just before the great oil boom.
?I met them when they first arrived in Longview,? says William Davis W.D. Northcutt III, a retired orthodontist whose grandchildren represent seven generations of Longview residents. ?Everyone here had the highest regards for both of them ? Daisy and Curtis were as good of citizens of Longview as we had, then or today. They participated in everything culturally in the community. Daisy continued to do so after Curtis passed away.?
Dr. Curtis Morris Jr. of San Francisco remembered his mother as someone who ?took standards seriously, and set and met goals with great resolve. Yet, she also had a great sense of fun, which often took the form of whimsical exaggeration in surprising circumstances. She was once asked: ?Why did your husband buy that little newspaper, the Longview Lens?? She replied: ?Curtis could not abide the idea that anyone in East Texas would be deprived of his unique prismatic view of the world.? That reply captures mother?s quirky, off-center humor and its expression in unexpected ways and settings.?
Mrs. Morris was fond of pineapple sherbet, Waldorf salad, and freshly baked hot rolls. Her hostess skills were always in demand, and she was active in local clubs including the Longview Music Club, Fine Arts Club, Twentieth Century Club, Prelude, PEO, Longview Women?s Forum and 20th Century Club. She was a board member of the Longview Symphony Guild and Gregg County Historical Museum, and was actively involved with Longview Symphony League and in the First Presbyterian Church.
?Longview was near and dear to Daisy?s heart,? says Mary Murdoch, longtime community volunteer and former president of the Longview Symphony Guild Prelude. ?She devoted herself to bringing out the best it had to offer, working to promote the presence of fine music, good theater, and quality art. Daisy was instrumental in bringing renowned performers to town to play with the Longview Symphony and the Civic Music Association. She also invited compelling speakers and important political figures to appear in public forums. She cared that people in Longview be stimulated and informed.?
Few have lived long enough to say they were born on a farm in the ?Indian Territory,? which later became the state of Oklahoma. The only daughter of a schoolteacher a brother and sister died at early ages, the former Daisy Mildred Jones was a passionate learner and quickly rose to the top of her classes. The family moved to Vernon, Texas, where Mrs. Morris? father worked in the horse and buggy trade, owning a livery stable.
Seeing beyond a life as a homemaker, Mrs. Morris made her mark in the days before the term ?professional woman? became vogue. In the 1920s after completing her undergraduate degree at the University of Texas, where she majored in business and economics, and graduate studies at several universities, she taught high school classes in Caldwell, Texas. The superintendent described her as ?a young woman whose character is irreproachable? who could be ?relied upon absolutely under all conditions.? She later accepted a teaching post at Arkansas A & M College in Jonesboro, Ark., where she met her future husband, Curtis. They were married in Mineral Wells and eventually moved to San Marcos, where Mr. Morris taught at San Marcos State Teachers College. Working at the school was a tall young man who did janitorial work: Lyndon Johnson.
?After that, Curtis always said, ?You better be nice to the boy who sweeps out. He may grow up to be president,? Mrs. Morris said.
World War II saw a shortage of teachers in Longview, so Mrs. Morris taught civics at Longview High School from 1941-49. A pivotal event in her life came during the Truman administration. Her husband was dispatched to Washington to represent the natural gas industry during the Tidelands controversy involving state versus federal offshore tax revenue rights in the Gulf of Mexico.
In 1948 when she was named ?First Lady of the Year? in Longview, the local paper reported, ?Mrs. Morris is an outstanding example of the progress and achievements of the modern woman who not only finds time to make a home and rear a fine family but also makes an honored name and a positive place for herself in public and professional life as well as in social and religious circles.?
In 1950, the Morrises moved to Washington, where he was the representative of the American Gas Association. Mrs. Morris became president of the prestigious Washington Club ? a downtown social club for women, which included the wives of presidents. During the Johnson administration, she attended teas at the White House; she was also invited to tea at Buckingham Palace and found herself in a group papal visit.
Her Washington civic involvement included leadership posts at the Capital Speakers Club, University Women?s Club and the Inner Wheel of the District of Columbia Rotary women. She also held chairmanships in the Women of the Church of Potomac Presbytery and of the Bethesda Presbyterian Church, and was also province president of the Kappa Delta Sorority.
The Morrises lived in Washington during dramatic times. They witnessed the hippie demonstrations of the era; many happened under the window of their apartment on Connecticut Avenue. The day President Kennedy was shot, Mrs. Morris was to present a book review at the Chevy Chase Club.
?The audience was shocked; ?I don?t think anyone even remembered I was on the program,? she said.
?We really remembered when Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated. The riots were horrible . . . We were under martial law. It was scary to drive the streets. There were Jeeps with soldiers and pointed guns.?
An avid reader and history enthusiast, she often found herself at the center of the action, dressed in a smart hat, gloves, pearls and corsage. One of her favorite recollections dates to the Eisenhower administration, when the president?s wife, Mamie, visited Fort Worth to give a speech. Mrs. Morris recalled how she attended the speech and later discovered the Eisenhower car, broken down on the side of the road. Mrs. Morris approached, asked if she could speak to Mrs. Eisenhower, and was invited to discuss how she thought the speech went.
Elegant and erudite, she was always well-spoken, and never short on opinion.
The Morrises lived in Washington until 1976, when they moved back to Longview. They traveled extensively in Europe and the Middle East and attended the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland many times. She loved giving lectures on the Scottish heroine Flora MacDonald.
Mrs. Morris is preceded in death by her husband and her daughter, Rosemary Medley. She is survived by her son; six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. The grandchildren are Mary Elizabeth Medley of Denver, Colo.; Charlotte Medley of Dallas; Michelle Medley of Dallas; Dr. Christopher C. Medley of San Antonio; Anthony Morris of London, England; and Claire Morris of San Francisco.
What’s your fondest memory of Daisy?
What’s a lesson you learned from Daisy?
Share a story where Daisy's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Daisy you’ll never forget.
How did Daisy make you smile?