Charlotte Morris

Softly and tenderly, the force of nature known as Charlotte Rogers Morris transitioned to her next adventure on June 7th, just three days shy of her 81th birthday. With her unique strength and tenacity, her fearless devotion, her relentless determination, her unforgettable beauty, her intense love, her wise counsel, her quiet generosity and her occasionally outrageous sense of humor, she touched the lives of many family and friends who are blessed to carry forward with an overflowing of memories and lessons.

How do you sum up 81 years?

Determination. It allowed the fourth-generation San Antonian to emerge from a childhood spent at the St. Peter St. Joseph orphanage to a career first in banking, and then with the City of San Antonio.

Love. It moved her to marry Frank Morris, her high school sweetheart, not once, but twice.

Pluck. It allowed her, as a 23 year old in the 1950s with a young baby, to divorce.

Extreme courage. It enabled her to overcome alcoholism.

Humility that comes from failing. It prompted her to call August 6, 1973, the day she sobered up, as her true birth day, saying that, 'without sobriety, there is no life.' She remained sober for 43 years.

Charlotte never forgot her struggle to overcome alcoholism, and in the 1980s ran a halfway house for recovering alcoholics, helping hundreds of men and women to realize the same victory. She was profoundly grateful for her hard fought sobriety and shared freely the wisdom that came with it.

Those who were chosen to enter Charlotte's circle remember a truly gorgeous woman with an unforgettable wit and a room-filling personality. She was fiercely loyal. She was generous. She was mischievous. She was fun. She lived life on her own terms. She had an irrepressible energy that showered those around her with grace and dignity, the symbols of a life fully lived. Her beloved home, her neighborhood, her small group of friends and family, and her cat were a major part of that life, and never far from her mind. She was content.

What those who knew her will remember most was her shared devotion with her soul mate and daughter, Kelly Gale Morris. Theirs is a bond across all time, a connection from their mythic past to the mysterious future which is clearly not limited by short years lived on earth.

The day before she passed, Charlotte reported –– with clarity and conviction –– being given a glimpse of Heaven. She said it was beautiful in a way that we cannot imagine. She said she had talked with God, and now understood that life does indeed surpass this human experience. She said all that matters is love. She was not afraid to pass through the portal.

In the words of the poet Morris Gates, 'While she was fire, so fierce and so wild, I could only hope to be, for her, the forests and the winds to carry her flame.'

Following her wishes, there will be no public memorial. But please remember her on August 6th.