Eunice Morris Brown – A Colorful Life

Missoula – Eunice Morris Brown, 101, died Saturday, Jan. 18, with courage and dignity among family and friends.

She was born in Missoula on Dec. 8, 1895, the daughter of Will and Ella Morris. Growing up on a ranch in Potomac, she cared for five younger siblings, made and sold elaborate holiday cards to her grade school classmates, and bought the first phonograph in the valley (selling her cow, to her father’s dismay) because she loved music and dancing and parties. She rode in the annual roundups on her horse “Black Nellie,” remembered in one of the Missoula Carousel’s horse head hitching posts honoring Eunice’s “first century.”

She graduated from Missoula County High School, and Dillon Normal College (now Western Montana College – UM) in 1918, and studied art at George Washington University in Washington D.C.; the University of California in Los Angeles; and the University of Montana. While attending college in Dillon, she earned her way by working in the dormitory during the week, at the Sugar Bowl Restaurant on Saturday, and as an usher in the Hartwig Theater on Sunday. In her own words, “Women were looked down upon for working in those days, but I always believed in working hard. . . and loving people.”

She taught art, home economics and other subjects at Bonner School until 1933, commuting in her Model T Ford. She had been Walter Hook’s first art teacher, and organized “Girls Reserve” a YWCA-type organization for younger girls. She and her students formed a lifetime bond, and each year they would meet to honor her birthday.

In 1929 she married T. “Brownie” Mason Brown – after he learned to dance. She called him the “world’s best.” He had a heart attack as they were hunting in 1933, and was an invalid until his death in 1951. She cared for him, her parents, and other family members in her home.

During 1934 and 1935, she taught at Target Range School, in her words, surviving an onslaught of “spitballs” the first day. From 1936 to 1938, she worked in the county treasurer’s office. In 1940 she was elected Worthy Grand Matron of the Order of the Eastern Star, and Grand Secretary in 1941. In those capacities, she traveled around the state until 1945, when she opened “Eunice Brown’s Gift Shop” in the Hammond Arcade near the Wilma Theater. The shop’s basement became the “Cobweb Room” where she housed antiques, visited with and consoled friends and acquaintances.

In 1957, she sold the shop and began teaching at the Modern Business College until her “retirement” at age of 73. Then she began a career in appraising antiques and household furnishings, and conducting “great, great sales” – many at Missoula’s Fall Gun and Antique Show in the Adams Field House. Interviewed at one such sale, she said that people should think about the color of their lives, “If it’s rose-colored, you’re having fun. If it’s blue, you’re missing the boat. You have to get out and do things – dance and hike and have fun.”

She was an inspiring and tireless volunteer for the Missoula Crippled Children’s Association, holding monthly fund-raising teas at her gift shop and one year chairing its charity ball. She became known as the “Easter egg lady,” by making and selling hand decorated Easter “tree” ornaments for the Indoor Sports Club, benefiting handicapped adults. On her 100th birthday, she planned and hosted a party at the Holiday Inn for over 1,000 friends and family members, asking not for gifts but for donations to Missoula’s Food Bank. She allowed her name to be used once on a memorial – the “Eunice Brown Room” (the children’s room) in the Missoula YWCA’s shelter for abused women and children.

She was a member of Missoula’s First Christian Church; Immanuel Chapter No. 54 of the Order of the Eastern Star (as well as the Eunice Brown Chapter in Fairfield); various veteran’s auxiliaries; Soroptimist International of Missoula – North; and the Swingola Square Dance Club. Sher loved growing tulips and roses, and in 1973 won 15 ribbons and the Rudie Kalmbach trophy in the Missoula Rose Show.

Eunice received many awards and honors for service, including adoption by the Blackfeet Indian Tribe and the name “Bright Sunset Star” in gratitude for her work on the reservation’s sight preservation program. On her 75^th anniversary of her graduation from Western Montana College, she was honored as a distinguished alumnus and spoke at the college’s 1993 graduation. She had been honored as Missoula Business and Professional Woman of the Year (and Sparkplug!”); as the fair board’s outstanding citizen of the county; and as Woman of Distinction by Soroptimist International of Missoula – North. She also received treasured awards from her Bonner students, Eastern Star Grand Chapter, and Rainbow Girls.

Besides her beloved husband and parents, she is now reunited with her two sisters, Mattie Baird and Eva Thomas; her three brothers, Leonard, Allen, and Jim Morris.

She is survived by her nephews, Bill Baird of Lakeside, and Jim Morris of Spokane; her nieces, Mary Sheron of Fallon, Nev., Eloise McNally of Ovando, Vickie Faughender and Sally Hall of Spokane, and Nan Baird of Los Angeles; and her extended family of younger relatives and many friends of all ages and walks of life.

Eunice saw the very best in people, and taught by example the importance of showing respect for oneself, for others, for country, and for God. She was a planner who always planned time for fun. She loved entertaining, storytelling, and keeping her home open to family and friends.

Eunice’s memorial service takes place at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, in St. Paul Lutheran Church, 202 Brooks. A reception will follow. Her final instructions for the reception in her own hand were, “Have a great celebration of my wonderful life!”

Memorials may be sent to the Missoula YWCA’s Pathways Program for abused women and children, 1130 W. Broadway; to the Missoula Food Bank, 219 South 3^rd. West; to Hospice of Missoula, 500 N. Higgins Ave. #201; or to a charity of the donor’s choice.

Arrangements are under the direction of Squire Simmons & Carr Funeral Home.

The above obituary appeared in The Missoulian on January 22, 1997.

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Eunice was a daughter of H. W. ‘Billy’ Morris, and a niece of 4 other Morris brothers, some of whom were closely identified with the Blackfoot/Ovando, Montana region – Benjamin, John, Carl, and David Morris.

H. W. Morris Obituary – Missoulian 3/1/1954

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Benjamin Morris Obituary – Missoulian 7/21/1923

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