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Obituary (TX): Mrs. Martha (Joshua R. Morriss Jr. '47)

Posted on 05/06/2019

Martha Leah Williams Morriss passed away Saturday, April 6, 2019, after a brief illness. She loved her God and is happy to be at peace in Heaven with "a great cloud of witnesses." Martha was born June 13, 1926, in Mount Pleasant, Texas, to Jeffie and Isaac Williams. The family moved to Texarkana when she was ten and her father became a Justice on the Texas Sixth Court of Appeals. After graduating from Texas High School she attended Randolph-Macon Women's College in Lynchburg, Virginia, where she was a member of Chi Omega and earned a degree in mathematics. She married Joshua Rutland Morriss, Jr. on December 31, 1948; they celebrated seventy years of marriage this past December. Martha loved Texarkana, her family and her church. Her thumbprint is visible on a multitude of worthwhile organizations. She served as president of the Junior League of Texarkana and was instrumental in the founding of the Texarkana Regional Arts and Humanities Council.  She was a supporter of the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra, the Literary Council of Bowie and Miller Counties and educational endeavors too numerous to list. She and Josh were the catalysts behind the formation of MRC Cornerstone Retirement Community. She taught the Fellowship Sunday School Class at Williams Memorial United Methodist Church for more than 50 years and orchestrated Bible Story Time for Vacation Bible School at the church every summer. She and Josh delivered Holy Communion to shut-ins until a few months ago. Her passion for the arts led her to her appointment to the Texas Commission for the Arts. She also served on the Perkins School of Theology Executive Board. She received the C.E. Palmer Award for Community Service in 1991 and the Texarkana ISD Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2015. Martha is survived by her loving husband Josh Morriss, Jr.; three sons and daughters-in-law, Diana and Josh Morriss, III; Patsy and Don Morriss; and Rita and William Morriss; all of Texarkana; grandchildren Meredith and David Farren; Susannah and Daniel Linnett; Marjorie and Chad Matthews; and Allison and Brady Wright, all of Texarkana; Whitney and Ross Ormond of San Antonio; Melanie and Ben Tkach of Starkville, Mississippi; and Brad and Goodwin McCutcheon of Dallas; 15 great-grandchildren and a special niece, Joan Baldridge-Ballard of Little Rock, Arkansas. She is preceded in death by her parents, Jeffie and Isaac Williams, brothers Bill Williams and Jim Williams, and daughter-in-law Jackie Morriss. A memorial service will take place Friday, April 12 at 11:00 a.m. at Williams Memorial United Methodist Church, followed by a reception in Wesley Hall. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Williams Memorial United Methodist Church or one of the many charities that meant so much to Martha. "Well done, good and faithful servant.”

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