Mary Ellen Morrissey (1997)

MORRISSEY, TIERNAN, SMITH

Posted By: Pat Hochstetler (email)
Date: 11/28/2006 at 10:42:56

Winterset Madisonian - April 9, 1997

Mary Ellen Morrissey, 88, of Davenport, formerly of Moline, Ill., died April 2, 1997 at the Kahl Home for the Aged and Infirm in Davenport. Funeral services were April 7 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Winterset. A rosary was recited by the St. Mary's Church, Moline, Altar and Rosary Society. Burial was at St. Patrick's Irish Settlement Cemetery in Cumming. Collins Funeral Home in Winterset was in charge of the arrangements.

She was a lifetime teacher, having begun her career in Madison County in a one-room rural school. She received a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in education administration from the University of Iowa in Iowa City. She also earned a degree in librarianship and had a certificate in archival methods granted by the National Archives in Washington, D.C. She often lectured in genealogy. In 1972, she wrote a textbook on "Training of Librarians in Archival Methods." In line with her library work, she had studied creative writing, specializing in non-fiction and editing. Mary won first prize in non-fiction writing for the Mississippi Valley Writers Association.

Miss Morrissey was born Dec. 15, 1908, in Des Moines, to Roger and Ella (Tiernan) Morrissey.

During World War II, she served as a principal of the high school in Lone Tree and from there took a similar position in Tipton. Later, she went to South Bend, Ind., where she spent four years organizing the undergraduate library at St. Mary's College.

Miss Morrissey made it possible for many children to be schooled and had adopted 10 LaKota Sioux children in recent years, underwriting their schooling from grade one through eight, always in belief that learning should never stop.

Miss Morrissey came to Moline when Black Hawk College was founded in 1961, which is an affiliate of the Illinois College and Universities System, and remained there until 1983 when she retired as professor emerita. She helped establish the library and archives and taught courses in library usage. Mary was a member of the National Oral History Society with specialty in interviewing. Mary also served on the board of education of the Seton Catholic School System as well as the Peoria Dioceses School Board. In 1975, she was chosen Woman of the Year by Moline's Federation of Women's Clubs.

Mary was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church, Moline, and the Resurrection Choir and an Honorary Star Member of the Altar and Rosary Society.

For her contribution to the preservation of Belgian Culture in the United States, Mary was decorated by King Boudwain of Belgium and given the title "Lady Morrissey." This ceremony was in 1976 and conferred upon Mary by the Minister of Belgian Culture who came to Moline from Brussels, Belgium, to honor her. Mary was the first person in the area not of Belgian descent to receive the Knights of King Leopold II award for her untiring efforts to preserve the heritage of the Belgian people who settled in wester Illinois after World War I. Miss Morrissey is responsible for the Belgian Historical Collection housed at Black Hawk College and for the Belgian lace-making exhibit.

After her retirement, she was archivist for the Center for Belgian Culture and coordinator of Black Hawk College Educational Tours, in addition to freelance writing in the non-fiction field. One article on Belgian Culture in the United States was included in "The Encyclopedia of Ethnic Groups."

The onset of ill health curtailed a project of research for the Herbert Hoover Museum and Library. Her work was investigating the years from 1914 to 1918, the famine in Europe and the Herbert Hoover Relief programs. Her main aspect of the research was the present health of those who survived the famine and interviewing those who migrated to the United States in 1920.

Mary traveled throughout Europe and the British Isles for her historical research and made periodic visits to Ireland to visit relatives and the places of her grandparents' birth and chronicled her family's history in Ireland.

Survivors include one sister, Adorine Smith, with whom she made her home in recent months, and one sister-in-law, Margaret (Mrs. John) Morrissey, both of Davenport; and many nieces and nephews.

Her parents; two brothers, and two sisteres preceded her in death.