Marian Morris

Marian Lucille (Schonert) Morris, 98, Bismarck, died March 13, 2016, at a Bismarck Care Center. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:00 am Saturday, March 19, at Church of St. Anne, Bismarck, with Rev. Wayne Sattler officiating. Burial will be held at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Bismarck. Visitation will be held from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm Friday, March 18, at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Parkway, Bismarck, where a vigil/rosary will begin at 7:00 pm. Marian was born at the Bismarck Hospital on February 7, 1918, to Harry and Mabel (Larson) Schonert. Her mother brought her home on the Soo Line passenger train from Bismarck to Arnold, where her father met them with a sled and a team of horses to travel the last mile to their home. Marian grew up on the farm with her three sisters and received her grade school education at Arnold School. She attended Bismarck High School and was very active in high school sports, including basketball, diamondball, volleyball, soccer, and track. In her senior year she lettered in her sports. She was very proud of her letter and later wore it to her high school class reunions. She was also active in many clubs and school organizations. Following her graduation, she attended Capital Commercial College and later worked as a secretary for Builders Supply Co. In 1938, she married her childhood sweetheart, Robert “Bob” Morris. They lived in Bismarck, Auburn, WA (for a very short time), and then to Bismarck. They custom combined in the south for three years prior to purchasing their farm in NE Bismarck in 1950. The couple farmed until 1976, when they moved to their retirement home (the house on the hill). In 1997, they moved back to Bismarck where Marian lived until September 2015, when she entered Missouri Slope Lutheran Care Center. Bob passed away in 2002. Marian was a long-time member of the Arnold Homemakers, Church of St. Anne, the Farm Bureau, the State Historical Society, and the ND Association of the Blind. She was a leader of the Arnold 4-H Club and a strong supporter of macular degeneration research. She worked as a volunteer at St. Alexius Hospital Gift Shop and was an auxiliary member for several years. Marian enjoyed entertaining, hosting family get-togethers, gardening, canning and freezing of fruits and vegetables. She was a fascinating story-teller, a writer of family history, and the center of her family unit. Forever grateful for sharing her life are her children, daughters-in-law and sons-in-law, Gordon (Leslie) Morris, Rockdale, TX, Bonnie Morris, Phoenix, AZ, Marilyn (Michael) Bryan, Grafton, ND, and Roberta (Lon) Klusmann, Dacula, GA. Also surviving is her sister, Irene Beatt, St. Paul, MN; 14 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren; several nieces and nephews, cousins, and many friends. She was preceded in death by her parents; her sisters, Harriet (James) Smith, Inez (Tom) Baker; son, Russell Morris; and granddaughter, Victoria Morris. She will be missed by so many who knew her. To know her was to know her kindness, her gentle ways, her thoughtfulness, her forgiveness, her generosity, her selflessness, her determination, her perseverance, but most of all, her love. Memorials may be sent in memory of Marian Morris to the State Historical Society of North Dakota Foundation, PO Box 1976, Bismarck, ND, 58502, for the “Bread of Life” Church at the Camp Hancock Museum in Bismarck, where her maternal grandfather Louis A. Larson hand carved much of the interior.