Thelma Jean Morris' Obituary
Thelma Morris Obituary
Thelma J. Morris, 90, of Oberlin, Ohio died May 11, 2023, at Kendal at Oberlin. She was born June 4, 1932, in Evanston, IL to Raymond Philip Morris and Jean Louise Kelly. Shortly after she was born, the family moved to New Haven, CT where she was a graduate of Hillhouse High School. Thelma was a 1954 graduate of Oberlin College and received a MS in Library Science from Simmons College, Boston in 1956. After college, she was employed in the reference department of the Harvard Business School Library. She worked as assistant librarian of the University Of Washington Business School in Seattle which coincided with the Seattle World’s Fair where she worked in the library exhibit, featuring early use of computer technology for library applications. She also spent a year in the research library of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. In 1964, she joined the Cleveland Public Library where she worked in the Social Sciences department for over 29 years. In 1978 she became department head and retired in 1993. Thelma was a member of the Case Western Reserve University’s department of continuing education’s poetry workshop for many years and was a published poet and an avid essayist. Extensive travel took her to Iran, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, France, Italy, England and elsewhere in Europe and the United States. Writing, reading, music, theater and art were long-term avocations. She was an early supporter of the Cleveland Opera as well as Lyric Opera Cleveland. Thelma moved from Shaker Heights to Kendal at Oberlin in 2005. At Kendal, she was active in Publicity Plugs, a group dedicated to writing news articles for the city schools, a member of the EUREKA literary magazine, various other committees and wrote book reviews for the Kendal newsletter. She was a member of First Church in Oberlin and a volunteer at Hospice of the Western Reserve, where she visited patients and edited the Bereavement Center’s newsletter. Thelma is survived by a brother, R. Philip (Karen) Morris of High Point, NC; nieces, Dr. Lynn C. Zeidan (Boutros) of Johnstown, PA and Leslie E. Johnston of Alta Loma, CA and two grand-nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents and a sister, Marcia Johnston. A memorial service at Kendal will take place at a later date. Burial will be in Garnett Cemetery, Garnett, KS. Memorial contributions may be made to the Oberlin College Library or the Cleveland Public Library.
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