Louise 'Bill' Morton, 94: ‘an absolute character'

By Rick Badie

For the AJC

Before she was born, Louise Morton’s father said it didn’t matter what name was given to her.

He was going to call her Bill.

He did. The moniker stayed with Mrs. Morton her entire life. She didn’t mind. In fact, she lived up to it.

In the 1920s, her father ran a repair shop on Atlanta Road in Smryna. Mrs. Morton was a fixture there as a teen, working alongside her father, said her daughter, Ann Konigsmark Johnson of Vinings.

“She was a tomboy,” her daughter said.

Her language was salty. Her heart big.

“She was constantly the first one on the scene with food or drink if anyone was ill or there was death in the family,” Mrs. Johnson said. “With some people, the kind of language she used would seem obscene. With her, it was colorful.”

The Smyrna native drove her blue Buick as long as she could. She’d travel to Tennessee or Virginia to visit her two grandchildren when they were in college. And she’d ferry friends to doctor’s appointments and to buy groceries.

When she couldn’t drive anymore, she hired a driver. Think the Southern matron in “Driving Miss Daisy.” A real Doodle.

“She was like Miss Daisy,” her daughter said. “An absolute character. That’s all you can say.”

Louise “Bill” Osborn Konigsmark Morton, 94, of Smyrna, died Monday of natural causes at Presbyterian Village. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Smyrna First United Methodist Church. Carmichael Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

In 1934, Mrs. Morton graduated from Smyrna High. Three years later, she married her first husband, the late Reed Konigsmark, also of Smyrna. When he died, Mrs. Morton had to fend for herself and her children. She learned the floral business by working at Winestock’s in Atlanta.

In 1948, she started her own business -- Smyrna Floral and Gift Shop -- with her sister-in-law.

Three years later, she closed the shop after marrying Allen Benton Morton. She became active in the Smyrna Social Club and at Smyrna United Methodist Church.
With the Girl Scouts, she and other parents were instrumental in building the now-defunct Mary Willis Girl Scout Hut off Concord Road in Smyrna.

In 1978, First Lady Rosalynn Carter invited Mrs. Morton to the White House to decorate for Christmas. Nancy Reed Konigsmark of Smyrna, another daughter, served as Mrs. Carter’s scheduler at the time.

“I’ve got pictures of mom standing in front of the tree they decorated,” Ms. Konigsmark said. “She was very excited and had a blast.”

Additional survivors include two grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.