Dr Jean Harris (Whitney) Morse (1872-1940)

WHITNEY, MORSE

Posted By: Dorian Myhre (email)
Date: 1/20/2014 at 02:29:23

From Nevada Evening Journal April 1, 1940

Final Rites Held Here Sunday for Dr. Jean Morse

Funeral rites for Dr. Jean Morse, 68, who died at Redwood Falls, Minn., Wednesday, March 27, were held Sunday afternoon at the Seventh Day Adventist church with Elder A. L. Miller in charge.

A large group of intimate friends and other people of the congregation with which she had so long worshipped, were present at the service, which was followed by burial in the Nevada cemetery by the side of the husband, Dr. J. F. Morse, who died August 8, 1935.

Life Sketch of Mrs. Morse

Jean Harri Whitney was born near Rome, N. Y., February 26, 1872. Her parents were B. L. and Esther Whitney. She had one sister, Lenna, who passed away in 1921. Little is known by the survivors, of her early life. Her father at the time of her birth was president of New York S. D. A. confernence, he being an Adventist minister.

Shen she was about 11 she with her parents and sister sailed for Switzerland as missionaries to joint the work there but the father's health soon failed and when Jean was but 15 she brought the sick father to the Battle Creek Sanitarium where she nursed him until the mother and sister could join them. She then began the nurse's training and as soon as she had finished that she began the medical course from which she graduated in 1897 from Ann Arbor, Mich.

She became one of the staff doctors of the Battle Creek Sanitarium working in the obstetric department. At the time of the Battle Creek fire she helped with the emergency work but as the work was disbanded for time she next practiced in Paradise Valley Sanitarium, Calif., and the Portland Sanitarium in Oregon. But after the Battle Creek Sanitarium had been rebuilt she was recalled and continued in practice there. In December, 1906, she was married to John Ferdinand Morse, also a medical doctor and they both continued with the Battle Creek institution until in 1910 when they went to Europe to take special work, he studied at Edinburg and she at Rotunda, Dublin.

Following the completion of their studies they toured the continent and returned to this country in 1911. Shortly thereafter they sailed for Porto Rico where they were connected with a large sugar company as company doctors. They were very happy in this service as it gave them opportunity for much missionary work.

A shadow soon fell which never lifted. At the time of the birth of a son in September, 1914, complications arose which caused an affliction that remained with her always. The family returned to this country in 1921 and lived at Hinsdale, Ill., until the fall of 1925 when they came to Nevada, Iowa.

Doctor Morse and her mother passed away during the space of about a year. This was a keen shock to her but she seemed to gain strength again ind in the spring of 1937 moved to Redwood Falls, Minn. Later that fall she went Angwin, Cal., where she lived for nine months with a cousin. In May, 1928, she again returned to Redwood Falls, where she passed away Wednesday afternoon, March 27, 1940, at the home of her friend, Mrs. Esther Larsen Read. She had been in apparently good health all winter but suffered a stroke Monday morning March 25, which caused a complete paralysis of the right side and of the throat. It however, did not seem she suffered during this lingering time but fell quietly asleep.

Doctor Jean Morse was a very faithful member of the Seventh Day Adventist church, which she joined in early childhood. She wanted to help all she could.

She is survived by the two adopted sons, Leon, 25, of Los Angeles, Cal., Lawrence, 15, of Redwood Falls, Minn., and a cousin, Gray Harris of Worcester, Mass.