Charlee Frances Pitchford Morris

GLENDIVE, MONTANA: Charlee Frances Pitchford Morris, age 78, passed away on Saturday, August 7, 2010 at the Eastern Montana Veterans Home in Glendive. As she had always wished, she simply went to sleep and went to be with the Lord. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 A.M. on Friday, August 13th, 2010 at West Side Baptist Church in Glendive with Pastor Dan Pust officiating. Interment will be held at 1:30 P.M. on Friday, August 13, 2010 in the Custer County Cemetery in Miles City, Montana. Friends are requested to wear the bright colors she always loved as a celebration of her life. Silvernale-Silha Funeral Home of Glendive has been entrusted with the arrangements. Charlee was born in Steamboat Springs, Colorado on March 10, 1932 to Creighton Francis Pitchford and Elsie Elender Mead Pitchford. Her father worked for Texaco and they relocated many times during her childhood. Charlee had a younger brother, William Lee (Bill). Charlee attended Moffat Texaco Camp School during the first and second grade and the third through seventh grade at Hamilton School, also a country school in a large stone building where her parents had attended school. The first half of the eighth grade, she went to Irving Junior High School in Pocatello, Idaho. The family moved to Oregon Basin Oil field near Cody, Wyoming and she finished the eighth grade in another country school. During the ninth and tenth grades, Charlee attended Cody High School. In the 11th grade, she was in Newcastle, Wyoming. Because of the oil boom, classes doubled and tripled and more. Newcastle was where she met her future husband of 57 years, Bus Morris. His sister, Helen, was her best friend. Bus and Charlee went to the prom together. In the twelfth grade, she attended Roundup High School. As Charlee wrote in her biography for her 50th class reunion, "At the last reunion luncheon, the conversation started about some of you being in the first grade together and I thought, ‘How wonderful!' I went to so many schools and there were always new students. It has plus marks - always life comes with its plusses as well as minuses. I have made a lot of good friends. I would not have met many of them if we hadn't moved and moved." Throughout her life, Charlee made friends wherever she went. Charlee worked for Johnson Coal and Al Stoner while she was still in high school in Roundup. Following that, she did income tax typing for W.S. Mather and then worked for Liggett Agency, also in Roundup. Charlee and Bus were married in Roundup on November 15, 1952. When Bus came back from the Army in 1954, they moved to Billings where Bus worked for Eaton Metal and she was a rate clerk for General of America Insurance Company. Their two daughters, Sue and Karen, were both born in Billings. The family relocated to Miles City, Montana when Bus went to work for L.P. Anderson in January of 1959 (for Great Northern Drilling and L.P. Anderson Contractor). They lived there until the company moved them to Glendive in 1982. Over the years, Charlee volunteered at many organizations: church, 14 years of Girl Scouts, hospitals and many others. She was a member of the VFW Auxiliary and American Legion Auxiliary. Charlee worked very hard to get the Eastern Montana Veterans Home (EMVH) in Glendive. She volunteered there arranging escorts for residents to go to doctor appointments, go shopping, etc., baked angel food cakes and lots of other things that needed to be taken care of. Charlee's health deteriorated following a stroke four years ago and she resided at EMVH for the last 2 ½ years. Charlee enjoyed people and was very talented in many areas. She liked flowers and enjoyed gardening. She did crafts, fancy work, quilts, arranged flowers, and made corsages. Much of her time was occupied with volunteering for various organizations and doing for people. If someone needed something done, Charlee always tried to help out. Charlee was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her husband and beloved Ernie (Cocker Spaniel) of the family home, daughters Sue (Ron) Cercone of Lemon Cove, California and Karen of Miles City, her brother Bill (Katy) Pitchford of Mesa, Arizona, numerous nieces and nephews, and numerous friends she considered to be a part of her family. Should friends desire, memorials may be made to the Eastern Montana Veterans Home or to the charity of one's choice. Remembrances and condolences may be shared with the family at: www.silvernale-silhafuneralhome.com

Charlee Frances Pitchford Morris

March 10, 1932 - August 13, 2010

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Charlee Frances Pitchford Morris

March 10, 1932 - August 13, 2010

What We Do

Flowers & Gifts

Plan Ahead

About Us

Resources

Obituaries

Grief & Healing

Contact Information

365 Days of Grief Support