Jane Morris

The life of Jane Morris, who died February 22nd, 2020, will be celebrated with a mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m. Friday, July 23rd, 2021, at St. Gabriel’s Church, 3016 Providence Road, Charlotte, North Carolina, 28211.

Mrs. Morris was born September 1st, 1930 on City Island in the Bronx, New York. She was the daughter of the late Thomas Frank Judge and Jane Rogan Judge. She was preceded in death by her husband, John J. Morris, as well as her sister, Margaretann Pettigrew of Hawaii, and her brother, Thomas F. Judge, of Orlando, Florida. She is survived by her sister, Eileen Judge of the Bronx, New York and her children: John Morris and his wife, Rhonda, of Houston, Texas; Maryellen Crow and her husband, Robert, of Mint Hill, North Carolina; Eileen Argentina of Portland, Oregon; Janet Mills and her husband, Greg, of Raleigh, North Carolina, and Tom Morris and his wife, Lynn, of Gaithersburg, Maryland. She is also survived by 12 grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Memorial donations in her memory can be made to the Sisters of Charity of the Bronx, New York, 6301 Riverdale Avenue, the Bronx, New York, 10471, or to the Little Flower Assisted Living, 8700 Lawyers Rd, Charlotte, NC 28227.

Those details, however, are just the basics. Jane Morris was a proud New Yorker who nevertheless was happy to call North Carolina her home for the past 45 years. She was born Jane Bernadine Judge and grew up in the Bronx, living in a number of neighborhoods during her childhood including the Grand Concourse and the Botanical Gardens while also spending many summers at Greenwood Lake, NY and Old Greenwich, CT. She graduated from St. Barnabas High School in the Bronx and was a standout swimmer with Women's Swimming Association of New York City. During that time, she competed in swim meets across the greater New York area and regionally. She also competed in an open-water swim against men in Greenwich, CT, a rare occurrence in those days. She had her brother, Tom, supporting and coaching her through the course, and bested several of her male competitors. She graduated from Pratt's School of Business in Manhattan in 1949 and worked as a secretary at Rogers Peete Clothing Store and King Features Syndicate until 1954.

In the early 1950s, she met John Morris, a fellow resident of the Bronx and a World War II Veteran, and they married in early 1953. The first of five children, John, was born that November, followed a little more than a year later by Maryellen in 1955 and Eileen in 1956. With three kids in a walk-up apartment in the Bronx, the young couple soon joined the large exodus of young families from the city out to the suburbs, moving to Commack, Long Island in 1957. Daughter Janet Morris was born in 1960, followed by son Tom in 1964. In 1969, the family moved to nearby Kings Park in a busy household that now also included Jane’s mother, who had moved in after leaving the Bronx. From 1972 through 1975, Jane worked as a secretary at Syosset Hospital on Long Island.

In 1975, John Morris was transferred to a new job and the family moved to Charlotte. The life-long New Yorkers began a new chapter and settled in the Mountainbrook area of South Charlotte and joined St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church. Jane was an avid tennis player and served as a volunteer at Crisis Assistance Ministries in Charlotte. John died unexpectedly in 1983 at the age of 59 and Jane weathered that tragedy thanks to a strong internal faith. She moved to a new house in Raintree and took a job at KinderCare. The first of 12 grandchildren was born shortly thereafter, and Jane took to it instantly. Whether it was here in Charlotte, up in Raleigh, or out in Texas and Oregon, Jane was a huge source of help to all of the young parents while also becoming a loving presence in the lives of all her grandchildren. She continued the annual beach trips that John started after the move to North Carolina and looked forward to these annual summer events that brought together a large extended family.

For the next 35 years of her life, she continued to put us all first while also remaining the foundation of our family, the unifying force that brought us -- and kept us -- together. She was the master at developing unique relationships with all of us, beginning in childhood but then fully flowering into adulthood. She did the same with each of her grandchildren. As her health deteriorated in recent years, it was our turn to try to give back and to support her in whatever way we could.

We had barely begun to repay the debt.