Valley County, IDGenWeb Project | |
Ruth Balch Morris, 101, died Jan. 5, 2013, at the McCall Rehabilitation and Care Center, where she had resided for nearly six years.
Private services are planned for Dallas next spring where her ashes will be spread near the graves of her father and mother, as Ruth requested.
Born Aug. 7, 1911 in Venus, Texas, Ruth was the second child and only daughter of Olin and Edith Garrison Balch.
She was a Dallas resident for 74 years, but often visited Idaho to enjoy cooler summers with her brother and noted Idaho author of young people’s books, Glenn Balch, and his family in Boise. Having no biological children of her own, Ruth was especially fond of her brother’s four children.
Ruth attended grade school and high school near her hometown before graduating from Christian Bible College in Dallas. She was a member of Ross Avenue Baptist Church and Lakeside Baptist Church.
She was employed as an elementary school secretary where she met and married Jack Morris, a military officer working with the local ROTC program, in 1957.
Ruth lived in the same Dallas home for 47 years, despite Jack’s death in 1987. At age 94, Ruth moved to the Inland Northwest to be closer to family.
For seven years, she lived under the care of her nephew Olin Balch and his wife, Karen, residents of Cascade.
Ruth was preceded in death by her brother Glenn in 1989 and by her beloved niece Mary (Buzzy) Birch, who died last fall in Missoula, Mont.
Ruth is survived by nieces Betty Weston and Nikki Balch, long-time Boise residents, and Olin and Karen, who all loved her dearly. She is also survived by three stepchildren, Jack Jr. Morris of Hinesville, Ga., Lawrence Morris of Carthage, Tenn., and Cathy Morris Tetreault of Claxton, Ga.
She had seven great-nieces and nephews and 12 great-great nieces and nephews.
Carol Morris of Fort Worth, Texas, and her son, Rusty, of Seaside, Ore., were relatives by marriage and special life-long friends.
A special thank you to Dr. Marcia Witte, all the nurses, staff, particularly Mary Sardegna, and residents of McCall Rehabilitation Center for providing love and companionship for the last years of Ruth’s life.
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