Lillian Louise (Luby) Morris, a nurse and World War II veteran, passed away at the Androscoggin Valley Hospital in Berlin on December 16, 2017 after a short illness. She was 99 years old.
Born in Milford, MA on September 28, 1918, she was one of nine children of Frederic J. Luby and Lillian Battles Luby.
She was a Registered Nurse, proud of her training at Massachusetts General Hospital School of Nursing and of her nursing career at MGH in Boston. While working there in 1942, she rushed to the hospital one night while off-duty to help care for victims of the Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire, the deadliest nightclub fire in history.
Lillian was 23 when she enlisted in the Army Nurse Corp. during World War II and served overseas in England and France. Her four brothers also served in the military and one died while fighting the Battle of the Bulge. She had met her husband, Bob, in Boston while she was in training at MGH and he was a student at Tufts Dental School. He also enlisted during the war, and they became engaged while he was overseas in Italy. When the war ended they married, in 1945, and moved to Berlin and had four sons. Her husband, Dr. Robert Morris, was a dentist in Berlin until his death in 1971.
While in Berlin, Lillian was an industrial nurse at Granite State Rubber Company, later known as Converse.
Her faith was always strong and she was a regular communicant of the Good Shepherd Parish in Berlin, NH. She was a lifelong member of the Luby Association and its oldest member. She loved spending time with her relatives at the family cottage on Lake Nipmuc in Mendon, MA. She was an avid bridge player, and a member of the North Country Bridge Club. She was also a member of the singing group, the Merry Makers and a member of the North Country Nurse’s Association.
Lillian was active in the community right up until the time of her death, volunteering regularly for the RSVP/Senior Meals Program and at the polls during elections. She was an avid knitter, loved working on crossword puzzles, and love to read. She traveled extensively, whether it was a bus tour through the U.S. and Canada or a trip with her sisters and son to Europe. She continued to drive and was the proud recipient of a NH Driver’s license good until she turned 104.
Her eldest son, Robert, of Elyria, OH, died in 2003. She is survived by her three sons, James Morris and wife Deborah de Peyster of Concord, NH, Paul Morris and wife Sandi of Gorham, NH, and John Morris and wife Linda of Berlin; nine grandchildren: Robert Morris of Westlake, OH, Heather Fogarty and husband Kevin of Elyria, OH, Brian Morris and wife Bonnie of Seville, OH, Matthew Morris and wife Stephanie of Willard, OH; Allison Morris of Austin, TX; Benjamin Morris and wife Alexandria of Concord, NH, Jennifer Cloutier and husband Dagan of Bow, NH, John Morris and wife Christine of Barrington, NH, Elizabeth Williams and husband Michael of Manchester, NH: and 19 great grandchildren. She is also survived by two sisters, Joan Fales of Quincy, MA, and Alice DePalma of Milford, MA.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Friday Dec. 22, 2017 at 10 AM at St. Anne Church of Good Shepherd Parish, Berlin. Interment will follow in St. Kieran Cemetery. Relatives and friends are invited to call at the Bryant Funeral Home, 180 Hillside Avenue, Berlin, NH on Thursday from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 PM. Memorial contributions may be made to the Good Shepherd Parish in Berlin or RSVP/Senior Meals Program.