Nellie Anna Dora Morris
March 27, 1927 - 2022
As published in the July 11, 2022 World-Spectator
Nellie Anna Dora Morris (nee Van Sprundel) was born March 27th, 1927 on her family farm outside Manor, Saskatchewan to immigrant parents. Her father, Peter, and mother, Marie, made their way to Canada from Holland and Belgium respectively. She was the eldest of 5 children; brothers John, Henry “Dick” and Jerry “Babe”, and sister, Anne “Mick”.
She graduated grade 12 from Manor School and went on to attend Dominion Business College in Winnipeg. Upon completion of business school, she worked as a bank teller and stenographer at the Bank of Montreal in both Winnipeg and Reston from 1947-1949.
She married William “Bill” Morris on October 12, 1949. They were blessed with 4 children: Laurel, Lee (Donna), Danny (Molly), and Randy (Candice).
After her kids were born, Nellie became a Fuller Brush saleswoman and Multi-Pro distributor for Reston and surrounding area. She did this for over 30 years from 1964-1999.
Along with raising her 4 children, she was very active in her church and community. She had a strong Catholic faith and was very involved in her church. She served as minister of the Eucharist, a reader, a greeter and sang in the choir. She was also a member of the Catholic Women’s League. Her selflessness was admirable. Her servitude to others was unmatched. She was always helping people.
Her community commitments were just as plentiful. She was part of the Reston Home and School Association in the 1950s and 60s and secretary and president of the Reston Horticultural Society. She volunteered for community events and always contributed baked goods to bake sales.
She was a fashionista. She loved clothes and loved to shop for deals. And everything looked good on her. She had a timeless beauty and always looked the picture of perfection and grace.
She loved flowers and loved to garden. Her garden was huge and seemed to grow every year. She had a green thumb and the patience required to plant, tend to and harvest vast amounts of food and flowers. She won hundreds of ribbons at fairs and horticultural shows over the years. Her tulips and gladiolas and roses were among her most beautiful flowers. One of her favourite things was to gift her friends the flowers that she grew. Not only did she tend to her farmyard sized garden, she also spent hours planting and caring for the flowers and the beds at the Reston Memorial Park. In 2021 a park bench was gifted to the park by her family with the perfect inscription “My God laughs in flowers”.
Nellie loved to read and write. She spent endless hours reading and clipping out articles to share with others. She also collected social news and wrote articles for the Reston Recorder and later the Alstone Lodge. In fact, the last issue of the Reston Recorder featured a photo of her and her son, Randy, for her 93rd birthday.
She lived much of her adult life on her farm outside Reston. She was frugal with money and wasted nothing. She even recycled her water. Her food was home grown, lovingly prepared and locally sourced. She was an excellent bookkeeper and kept a clean and tidy house. In 2008, she was encouraged to move into the Alstone Lodge, but only for the winters. Once spring came around, she was back at her farm, tending to her garden and flowers, staying there until after her boys came home for hunting season.
Some of her fondest memories were of her grandparents and living only a mile down the road from them as a child. And flowers. She was especially fond of her Netherland Heritage tulips.
She had an amazing life. She worked hard to provide for her family. She did that and more without complaining. She embodied the attitude of ‘just get on with it’. That strength and determination was evident in every part of her life.
Nellie was predeceased by her husband William Arthur “Bill” Morris, son Danny Morris, parents Peter and Marie (Jaenen) Van Sprundel, brothers John (Mary), Henry “Dick”, and Jerry “Babe”, and grandparents Cornelius and Annie (Dekkers) Jaenen.
She is survived by her daughter, Laurel, sons Lee (Donna) and Randy (Candice), grandchildren Jamie Duncan, Melanie (Sean) Reddy, Robert Duncan, April (Mike) Hutton, Gerard (Robyn Radcliffe) Duncan, Blake (Dyan) Morris, Scott Morris, Mike (Katrina) Morris, Paul Morris, Markie (Alistair Pethick) Morris, Seanna (Blake) Kirchner, Randa (Brad) Millette, and Candra (Kelsey) Kenler, great-grandchildren Hope, Ronan, Keira, Liam, Cormac, Jasper, Eleanor, Cecily, Isabella, Orval, Logan, Odin, Jack, Marilla, Baron, Eve, Sloane, Ridley, Steele, Adalee and Emberly, sister Anne “Mick” (Henry) Boutin, and many nieces, nephews, and friends.
Her funeral mass was held at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Virden, Manitoba on June 23, 2022.
Carscadden Funeral Chapels – Virden & Reston in care of arrangements.
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