May 06, 2012
MAYETTA – Thamar Morris, 83, of Mayetta, died Saturday, May 5, 2012 at her daughter’s home west of Mayetta.
She was born January 27, 1929 at Mayetta, the daughter of George Leander and Helen Cynthia Nahgonbe Williams. She attended school at the Marty Indian School in South Dakota.
Thamar was one of the first Oblate Sisters at Mt. Marty. At the age of nine she had the privilege of meeting Sister Katherine Drexel, who was later canonized as St. Katherine Drexel.
She was a member of Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church at Mayetta, enrolled with the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation as a Tribal Member, and also was Kickapoo and Sac and Fox. She was also a member of the We-Ta-Se American Legion Post No. 410, and was a committee member with the PBPN EPA program.
She married Calvin Charles Morris, a decorated officer of the Merchant Marines in World War II, in San Diego, CA. She met him while being stationed at Long Beach Naval Base, where she served as a nurse in the U.S. Navy. He died January 19, 1998. After her discharge from the Navy, Thamar continued her nursing career with Los Angeles County for 25 years.
Thamar was also preceded in death by a grandson, Skylar Clement, a brother, Hank Williams, sisters, Sharon Rose Pilcher, Cynthia Switch, and Georgia Elizabeth “Cub” Williams, a half brother, Edgar “Booger Red” Williams, and a half sister, Donna Jean Oliver.
Survivors include one son, Charles Morris, Mayetta; three daughters, Marie Therese Clement and husband Robert, Lucie Renee Morris and husband Richard Vest, Jr., and Lysette Diane Morris, all of Mayetta; a step-son, Herbert Morris, Tujunga, CA; one sister, Helen Wilson, Delia; one half sister, Donnis Keo, Horton; six grandchildren, Lisa Morris, Jason Wilder, Nick Wilder, Elliott Morris, Desiree Morris, and Chance Clement, and six great grandchildren, Sirena Wahquahboshkuk, Arthur Rios, William McKinney, Arianna Wilder, Joseph Wilder, and Donald Wilder.
Funeral Services will be 11:00 a.m. Thursday, May 10th at the Chapel Oaks Funeral Home in Holton. Burial with military honors by We-Ta-Se American Legion Post No. 410 will follow in the Weso Cemetery west of Mayetta. Thamar will lie in state at the Chapel Oaks Funeral Home in Holton, where a rosary will be prayed at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Memorials are suggested to the Oblate Sisters, and may be sent in care of the funeral home, P.O. Box 1034, Holton, 66436.
(Courtesy of Chapel Oaks Funeral Home-Holton, Kan.)