Jessie Hill Morton died on January 17, 2022. She was preceded in death by her parents Jesse Columbus Hill and Mary Coleman Hill, her sister Anne Frances Hill, and her former husband and the father of her children, Allen Glenn Morton. She is survived by her children Teresa “Tess” Ware (Lewis), Jonathan Morton, and Mark Morton; her grandchildren Anthony Ware (Heather Kuldell) and Nicholas Ware; and her great-grandson Jack Pinson.
Ms. Morton was born at home in Randolph County, North Carolina, on April 2, 1928. After graduation from high school, she attended High Point College (now High Point University) in High Point, North Carolina, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. She graduated Cum Laude, the only woman in her class to be awarded that distinction.
As a young wife and mother, Ms. Morton made homes for her family not only in North Carolina but also in Tennessee and on military bases in Cuba and Panama. Ms. Morton was living on Guantanamo Bay Naval Base during the Cuban Revolution and returned there as a school librarian in 1962 only to be evacuated with her family during the Cuban Missile Crisis. After three years in the Panama Canal Zone, she moved to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1966 where she lived the remainder of her life.
In 1968, Ms. Morton earned a Master of Library Science degree from George Peabody College for Teachers (now part of Vanderbilt University) in Nashville, Tennessee. She was subsequently employed for 20 years at Air University Library, Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama.
Ms. Morton had an independent and adventurous spirit. She loved to travel, often traveling solo and staying in youth hostels. She visited Australia, India, and Tunisia among many other destinations. She once took a freighter cruise from the United States to Africa's west coast.
Ms. Morton was an avid lifelong reader; an expert needlewoman; a writer of whimsical poems; and a giver of equally whimsical gifts, often thrift store treasures or items crafted by hand. She took a keen interest in the stock market and was quite knowledgeable about the world of investing. She loved gardening, cultivating houseplants and flowers as well as vegetables. She also liked to bake, and her Christmas Pepparkakor cookies and rum balls as well as her Thanksgiving pumpkin pies were looked forward to eagerly by family and friends each holiday season.
A private burial will take place at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorial gifts be made to Alabama Public Television, Troy Public Radio, Catholic Social Services of Montgomery, or John Knox Manor.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.WhiteChapel-GreenwoodFH.com for the Morton family.
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