MORGAN, Dorothy Ruth

The Daily Courier, Prescott, Arizona Thursday, March 01, 2012 Dorothy Ruth Morgan, 82, of Chino Valley, Ariz., passed away peacefully on Valentine's Day 2012 surrounded by her family, two years to the day after her beloved brother Ed passed away. She was born in McGill, Nev., on Oct. 24, 1929. She was a member of the P.E.O. Chapter CD and Eastern Star. Mom always joked that her birth led to the start of the Great Depression, but we all knew differently. She lived a life of service to others, which began when she graduated from Colorado College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music. She taught music to the visually impaired early in her career. She later completed her master's degree in elementary education at the University of Arizona, and spent the remainder of her career teaching music and various elementary grades to Native American children on the Tohono O'Odham Nation in Sells, Ariz. She grew to love Native American culture and the people who remain her oldest and dearest friends. She was the first public school teacher in Topawa, Ariz., when the school was transitioning from a Catholic school in the 1960s to a public school, and had many humorous stories of how interesting it was to be a Methodist teaching in a school with Catholic nuns. Her great passions in life were reading - she read thousands of books over the years and could converse with people on just about any subject - and music: She was an accomplished pianist and violinist. She instilled these passions in her children. She played violin for the Tucson Symphony Orchestra throughout the 1960s, and we all remember how disciplined she was as a single mother teaching all day, caring for her children at night, grading stacks of papers, and rehearsing violin often until the early hours of the morning. We all learned lessons from her work ethic and passion, and her selfless devotion to others. She was preceded in death by her parents Edwin A. and Martha Slover and her brother, Edwin E. Slover. She is survived by her sister Wilma Wall of Salt Lake City; daughter Martha Branan (Art) of Pineville, La.; son John Morgan (April) of Chino Valley; grandchildren Chris and Tino Garcia and Johnny and Steven Zimmerman of Louisiana, and Keith, Kevin and Kaiya Morgan of Chino Valley; and one great-grandchild, Kira Kate Garcia of Louisiana. Although her body failed in the end, her mind was always sharp and she kept her humor intact. A memorial will be at a future date when the grass is green and the flowers are in bloom in her backyard - just the way she loved it. We love and miss you mom, and want to thank you for the love you provided to us. You will be forever in our hearts. See you on the other side. Information provided by survivors.