Providence “Prudy” DiStefano Morris was born on March 27, 1961 in Buffalo, New York. She attended Annunciation School and Mount St. Mary’s Academy. Prudy graduated with honors from the prestigious Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and later earned a doctorate in pharmacy from the State University of New York, where she was elected to the Rho Chi International Honor Society for Pharmaceutical Sciences. She was a clinical pharmacist at Fairfax Hospital until 1991 when she moved to San Diego to become a clinical/academic pharmacist at the University of California, San Diego. She was a nationally awarded and locally trusted pharmacist and achieved the rank of Associate Clinical Professor of Pharmacy in the UCSD Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Her superb and attentive mentorship helped shape the careers of many young pharmacists and led to her appointments at the University of the Pacific Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Veterans Administration San Diego Healthcare and Sharp Healthcare in San Diego. She received numerous awards for pharmaceutical excellence, including Fellowship in both the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and the California Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
Prudy was devoted to service in the San Diego community. She was a consistent and reliable volunteer for St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School and Catholic Church. She donated her vacation time as a pharmacist to help with The American Lung Association’s annual residential camp for children with asthma. She was an eloquent public speaker and spent much of her time educating San Diego youth about lung health, avoidance of accidental poisoning and the importance of proper nutrition.
Prudy married Timothy Morris in 1992. They raised their two children, Tessa and Edward, in the Mission Hills community. She became well-known for her energy, vigor and gregariousness. She was an athlete throughout most of her life in activities ranging from performance dancing to triathlons. Although stricken with multi-system atrophy, a degenerative neurological disease, during her last decade of life, she became an example of how a disabled person could live a life of adventure, travel, laughter and friendship.
Besides her husband and children, Prudy is survived by her brother Philip, sisters Joanne and Carla, her nephew Sam and nieces Magen and Roxanne. Viewing for friends and family will be Friday, December 6, 5:00 - 8:00 PM at Merkley-Mitchell Mortuary: 3655 Fifth Ave, San Diego. Funeral services are Saturday, December 7, 10:00 AM at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, 4080 Hawk St, San Diego.
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