Long-term CWA member Marion Morris remembered for kindness and cooking

Mrs Morris was branch president of the Dubbo CWA for six terms over seven years between October 2023 and September 2010.

She was "a very good cook", and "well remembered for her sponges, scones and fruit cakes," said Marion Anderson, Dubbo branch secretary.

Mrs Morris never remarried after her husband, Eric, died 40 years ago. The couple had eight children, including Cathy, who remembered her mother as always dedicating herself to one community cause or another.

"In 2001, when the fires were out in the zoo, we shut Christmas Day down to make sandwiches out of our ham for the firies," Cathy said.

"She was also in the VIEW Club, they did fashion parades, and she was always doing drives for the CWA."

READ ALSO: Marion Morris wants Dubbo Regional Council to help fix the flooding issue in her backyard

Cathy remembers eating her mum's fantastic cooking as a child, and in recent years, when Mrs Morris's hands didn't work as well as they used to, Cathy helped make her mum's beloved cakes.

"I got mum to write down her recipes, her scones, sponges, fruit cake recipe. I used to do those sorts of things with her - she got carpel tunnel in her hands and she couldn't make anything," Cathy said.

"She used to make a lot of lace-covered coat hangers which she knitted. I've still got some of them at home here. I've picked up these traits from my mother and now I do them myself."

Mrs Morris was also a life member of the Dubbo Horse and Pony Club.

"She was always there for us kids, did whatever she could for the community ... I remember when we were kids, Dubbo Pony Club used to be at the showground. Mum would do a baked lunch, even when we went to pony club she would make sure we had our baked lunch at the club - she would bring it up in crockpots."

She also remembers her mother's golden syrup dumplings.

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"She was a seamstress for us kids, she used to make our clothes because there were so many of us," Cathy said.

Mrs Morris was born in 1927 at Dubbo Private Hospital on Tamworth Street. She went to St Brigid's Dubbo and was high-schooled in Marrickville in Sydney.

During sixth class, World War II had started and she was sent to live with her auntie and uncle near Parkes. She remembered trapping rabbits for meat during that time.

During her school years, she loved Irish dancing and her Grandma Kitty used to make her outfits and send to Ireland for tartan. She became an accomplished ballroom dancer during her teenage years, with her Uncle Allen as her partner.

After finishing school, Mrs Morris became a seamstress in a clothing factory. She met her husband at a ball in Dubbo. Her husband was a policeman and in the air force. Mrs Morris also volunteered in the RAAF Base ladies auxilliary.

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The week before Mrs Morris passed, she travelled to Sydney for her daughter's 70th birthday.

Mrs Morris passed away peacefully in her bed at her home of 70 years on the block the Morris family had owned for 100 years on Purvis Lane.

She had seven grandchildren, and also welcomed great-grandchildren into the world.

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