Eleanor Morrow

Kearney resident, 82

KEARNEY - Eleanor Elaine Morrow, 82, of Kearney, formerly of Mesa, Ariz., and Auburn, Wash., died Tuesday, April 9, 2013, at Good Samaritan Hospital.

A celebration of life will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Ainsworth United Methodist Church with the Revs. Eldon Davis and Dean Pofahl officiating. Burial will be at Ainsworth Cemetery.

Hoch Funeral Home in Ainsworth is in charge of arrangements.

She was born July 12, 1930, in Ainsworth to Clarence D. and Velleta (Baker) Morrow.

Survivors include her sister-in-law, Leona Morrow of Ainsworth; nieces, Sherry Morrow of Kearney and Joyce Richardson and her husband, Kevin, of Broken Bow; grandniece, Mishayla Richardson of Omaha; and several cousins and a host of friends.

She started elementary school at District 43 and then attended Ainsworth Public Schools and graduated in 1948. Following graduation, she went to work for Northwestern Bell Telephone Co. In 1952, she moved to Grand Island to work as a telephone operator for Northwestern Bell and then at the Ordnance Plant.

She then moved to Omaha where from 1958 to 1962 she worked as a PBX switchboard operator first at the Standard Blue Print Co. and then at the Chevrolet Motor Division District Office.

Following a trip to the West Coast, she decided she liked the weather there and moved to Port Orchard, Wash., working both as a telephone switchboard operator and on the assembly line making rockets at the Boeing Co. Continuing as a switchboard operator, she was hired into a Civil Service job in 1963 at Fort Lawton, Wash., and also spent time at the Bangor U.S. Naval Depot serving as a Navy secretary.

Finding herself homesick, she returned for a short six-month stint at the switchboard at Offutt Air Force Base, but upon experiencing another Nebraska winter returned to Port Orchard and worked at the Bremerton Ship Yard. Eleanor transferred to the General Services Administration in Auburn, Wash., in 1967 and worked switchboards in Fort Lewis, Wash., and in Seattle at the downtown Federal Building. She retired in 1990 as the communications supervisor at the Veterans Administration in Seattle.

Eleanor was always a sports enthusiast and in her early years played on various Nebraska softball teams in Ainsworth, Grand Island and Omaha. As a loyal fan of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Washington Huskies, Seattle Seahawks, Seattle Mariners, Phoenix Suns and the Arizona Diamondbacks, she took several trips around the United States to attend some of their games. She loved watching sports on television and had a great understanding of the games.

During her short return to work in Nebraska, Eleanor began playing pool and enjoyed the game for many years, and she had a trophy or two to prove it. Most days Eleanor could be seen wearing several pieces of "blingy" jewelry from rings to watches to necklaces.

She never took life too seriously and enjoyed the fun and pleasures that it offered. She loved to laugh and always enjoyed a good meal and a good hand of poker along with many other games.

Her early retirement years were spent on Lake Holm, in Auburn, Wash., where she resided for 35 years with her dear friend, Bette Roberts. In 1999, they started spending their winters in Apache Junction, Ariz. She enjoyed life in the park there, where she was involved in many activities and had many friends. In 2002, Eleanor moved to Arizona permanently, and in 2006 she moved to Discovery Point, a retirement community in Mesa.

Aware of her failing health and in order to be closer to family, January 2013 found Eleanor moving back to her home state of Nebraska and until her death residing at an assisted living facility in Kearney.

She was preceded in death by her parents and a brother, Eldon Morrow.

Music for her service will be provided by Sherry Campbell and Lisa Wiebesiek. Casket bearers will be Glen Baker, Keith Baker, Roger McCoy, Bill Morrow, Jim Morrow, Kevin Richardson, Deb Wetzel and Eldon Haas.

Memorials are suggested to the Ainsworth United Methodist Church, Brown County Historical Society or to the donor's choice.