Her nickname was “Dude,” and Mary Julia Morris was a lady who didn’t mind getting dirty. But that isn’t what earned her the seemingly masculine moniker.
“Her brother, when he was little, couldn’t pronounce Mary Julia,” explained her daughter, Angela Edwards, of Jackson, Ga. “What came out sounded like ‘dude,’ and that’s what stuck for the rest of her life.”
Mary Julia Morris, of Atlanta, died Friday at Laurel Park at Henry Medical Center of congestive heart failure. She was 88. The funeral was held Sunday at Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in Atlanta. Donehoo-Lewis Funeral Home, Hapeville, was in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Morris spent most of her adult life caring for her family, her daughter said. As a stay-at-home mom, she was able to enjoy her love of fishing, cheering for the Braves and volunteering with different organizations. She also loved to travel, her niece Debby Robinson said. On planes piloted by her husband, James C. “Jim” Morris, who died in 2010, Mrs. Morris was able to visit all 50 states and several foreign countries.
“Aunt Dude was always going and doing,” Mrs. Robinson said. “As long as she was able, she did everything she could.”
Mrs. Edwards said her mother didn’t let the amputation of her left leg in 2003 slow her down. The loss of her foot did have a profound effect on her closet, however.
“I know I took more than 50 pairs of shoes out of the house after she lost her leg,” her daughter said. “She was like the southern Imelda Marcos, or something. That was the family joke.”
Mrs. Morris surrounded herself with family, friends and laughter. One of her favorite activities was a family card game that included more than a dozen people, Mrs. Edwards said.
“My mother was an extrovert and she absolutely loved being around people,” she said. “She really enjoyed, literally, being around a lot of people.”
She also enjoyed tending to the flowers in her yard and cutting her grass, her daughter said.
“She called it yard work, but it was really more like gardening,” Mrs. Edwards said. “And she loved taking care of all of the azaleas her father planted in the front yard that bloom every spring.”
She lived next door to her parents until they died, and her brother and his family were also in the same house.
“She and my daddy could be in the yard for hours,” Mrs. Robinson said. “The yards were always immaculate.”
One of Mrs. Morris’ most endearing qualities was her spontaneity, Mrs. Robinson said.
“She loved to do things in the moment,” she said. “She was always there when you needed her or wanted her, ready for anything, even up until a few days before she died. I will miss that.”
Mrs. Morris is also survived by a daughter, Sherry Braggio of Baltimore; one grandson; two great grandsons, and a number of nieces, nephews and other family members.
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