Dr. Charlotte Nell Morse

1942 - 2022

MORSE, Dr. Charlotte Nell, 79, of Richmond, Virginia, died September 25, 2022, at Westminster Canterbury as a result of advanced Alzheimer's. Born in Washington, D.C. on October 26, 1942 to A. Clinton and Lottie Turner Cook, she soon traveled with her mother to Navy bases to be with her father, who was serving during World War II. When he was at sea for long assignments, the two of them stayed with Cook grandparents in Post, Texas or her Turner grandmother in Jacksonville, Florida.

Charlotte grew up on a farm in Leesburg, Virginia with ponies, beef cattle, cats, a dog and her younger sister, Evelyn. Her father commuted to the Department of Agriculture in D.C. She graduated with honors from Loudoun County High School in 1960 and won a Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow scholarship, which paid a substantial part of her expenses at Brown University. She majored in English at Brown, graduating Magna Cum Laude. She earned her Ph.D. from Stanford University in Medieval English literature in 1968. Her dissertation led to the 1979 publication of her book, The Pattern of Judgment in the Queste and Cleanness, a comprehensive critical reading of the two texts. She saw the works as part of medieval literature that urges men to repent so the Day of Judgment can be a day of joy. Her book casts new light on the Christian rationale for severely critical attitudes toward sexual sin.

After Stanford, she joined the junior faculty at Yale University's English Department, teaching there until 1975. She reviewed grant applications at the National Endowment for the Humanities for a year before accepting a tenure-track position at Virginia Commonwealth University. Tenured as an Associate Professor in 1979, she was later promoted to Professor and retired to Professor Emeritus status in 2012.

As a recently-tenured female faculty member, Charlotte served on University and Faculty Library committees. At a critical time in the VCU Libraries' history, she was instrumental in promoting its development into a well-administered and respected core service for students and faculty, and helping to set the stage for its growth into the strong institution it is today.

Charlotte taught during the school year and looked forward to conducting her research at the British Museum Library in London each summer, and when on sabbatical. Her research focused on Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, particularly the Clerk's Tale.

Charlotte is survived by her sister, Evelyn C. Walsh, of Lake Frederick, Va.; and two nieces, Katherine Walsh-Brama of Zenderen, the Netherlands (husband Thijs) and Meredith E. Walsh of Asheville, N.C. Her two great-nieces are Nora and Freya Brama. Her Cook cousins and material cousins live primarily in Texas. Her former husband, Mitchell Morse of New Haven, Conn. predeceased her; as did her parents.

A memorial service will be 2 p.m. Thursday, November 17, at Westminster Canterbury in Richmond and a graveside service will be 1:30 p.m. Friday, November 18, at Leesburg's Union Cemetery. Both services will be followed by a reception.