Altogether<br/>4307 Vineland Road, Suite H-17-19, Orlando, FL 32811<br/>For more information, visit our website at <a href='www.altogetherfuneral.com'>www.altogetherfuneral.com</a><br/>Copyright © 2025 FPG Intermediate Holdco, LLC

Helen Morris (nee Anderson) passed away peacefully in her apartment at Sunrise at McLean Village, Virginia. Helen’s family now celebrates her life with wonderful memories of gatherings, holidays, travel, and more. Her work ethic and self-reliance took her a long way, and her husband, children, and grandchildren are so lucky to have had such a dedicated wife, mother, and grandmother.

 

Helen was born in 1932 and raised on a large wheat farm in North Dakota, just a few miles from the Canadian border. The farm was about a mile and a half southwest the town of Antler. Back then Antler had about 300 to 350 people living there, with stores, a hotel, a restaurant, barber, schools, post office, etc. (2020 census was population 20, so the town is basically gone now).  

 

This farm was a very hard-working place, with chores to do from first hours of the morning until bedtime. Helen learned all the tasks inside and outside the house, including how to drive the trucks and farm machinery. The task Helen hated the most, and mostly got out of, was milking the cows. The Anderson farm was considered “self-sufficient” from the food standpoint, in that the only food items they regularly purchased from in town was sugar and coffee. They chopped wood but purchased locally mined lignite coal for most of their fuel. The primary cash crop was wheat but occasionally they grew and sold flax. When Helen was little, most of the clothes she wore were made at home (some even from flour sacks). They did sell some chickens in the spring, and sold cream from the milk cows most of the year. But for the most part the livestock (beef, pork, and chicken) was slaughtered and consumed on the premises. In the summer a large garden produced fruits and vegetables, and these were frantically harvested and “canned,” considered critical to survival for the family. The Anderson farm was one of the very few in the area that did not require financial relief from the government during the Great Depression.

 

The farmhouse was a basic square white 2-story wooden building. The ground floor had a large kitchen, a living room, and a sort of office/parlor room. Upstairs there was a loft with a guest bed, and four bedrooms. There were no bathrooms in this house. During the day people used a pit toilet privy outdoors. At night they used chamber pots. The first task in the morning was to boil water and clean those chamber pots. In North Dakota during bitterly cold and snowy winters the need to go outdoors to work or use the privy was difficult. The home had electric lights, and eventually the ice box was swapped for an electric refrigerator. The only water coming into the house was at the kitchen sink. One faucet for well water and a pump to get rain water from the cistern. The cistern water was considered better for cleaning and laundry. Helen's mother (Adine Anderson) and aunts did the cooking and baking on a coal/wood fired stove. Helen said her bath typically consisted of sponging off while standing in a laundry tub of warm water. In the summer the family rigged up an outdoor shower.

 

Helen did not complain about the hardship of her childhood, except the long walk to school in Antler. When there was snow on the ground, or the ground was muddy she resented that her parents would not let her take a horse to school. The only source of heat in the home was the wood stove in the kitchen, and another wood stove in the living room. The bedrooms were freezing cold in the winter. At least there were no pipes to freeze. During the summer the house was a busy place, with Helen's brother (Harold Anderson), dad (Cecil Anderson), uncles and hired help working in the fields and needing to be fed, housed, and clothed.

 

Helen was keen to get a good education and improve her chances in life. At the Antler school she befriended other girls with a similar dedication and kept in touch with them all her life. She would have been considered a “grind” in that she worked and studied hard to get the best grades. She said she was a pretty good basketball player, not the best on the girls’ high school team but probably number two. They traveled to other schools in the area for games, and Helen was considered very competitive. Helen's high school graduating class of 1950 was just her and three other girls. She appealed to her father to go to college, and the agreement was she could go as long as she came home during the summer to help on the farm.

 

Helen attended Minot State Teacher’s college (now called Minot State University), working on the Anderson farm in the summers. During her initial associate classroom teaching assignment in Westby, Montana, she recognized that many students needed speech therapy, and she wanted very much to learn the skills to help them. Upon returning to Minot State, she transitioned from classroom education to a speech and language clinician certification. Upon graduation she completed a one-year speech and language assignment at Lisbon, North Dakota, and one year at Enderlin, North Dakota, continuing to improve her education and skills. To pursue her Master’s degree (circa 1956) Helen went to Purdue University in Indiana, and eventually met and married her husband (Arthur Morris).

 

Helen and Art graduated from Purdue with their Master’s degrees and took jobs in Boulder City, NV. That’s where their son (Arlen Morris) was born in 1960. In 1961 they decided to go to State College PA where Art worked on his PhD and Helen was a full-time mom. The Morris family lived in a trailer park, where there were quite a few kids and stay-at-home moms. This neighborhood was friendly, and many residents were also graduate students at Penn State University and got along well. The mothers often socialized and did favors for one another and helped to watch each other's children. Helen’s daughter (Adele Morris) was born in State College in 1963. Helen said she had a very hard time with post-partum depression after Adele was born. It was probably called baby blues back then, and was poorly understood. Helen said her neighbor friends were a great support, and she much appreciated them during her time in Pennsylvania. In 1964, Art completed his PhD and accepted a professor position at University of Missouri Rolla, and the family relocated again, Adele still a baby.

 

Helen’s children look back at their time in Rolla, when Helen became their “SuperMom.” She became a speech therapist in the Public Schools, and a passionate advocate for therapy services in the area. She helped other nearby school systems start and expand speech therapy programs, mentored younger teachers, set up trips for training and conferences, fought for budgets, and helped students get the services they needed. Helen Morris helped hundreds of kids with stuttering, vocal cord problems, cleft palate and other birth defects, hearing loss, brain injuries, and oral injuries. She was truly a dedicated and energetic teacher, making a great difference in her community.

 

Arlen and Adele remember their mom's support when they had problems. Somehow Helen was always there for her husband and children. And she got a good dinner on the table every night. It was important to her that her family all sit down to dinner together. She was a good cook, fast, efficient, and practical. She did a tremendous amount of baking, often with Adele’s help. She served homemade bread, rolls, coffee cake. The family had dessert every night, usually something she would bake. Helen did an amazing amount of entertaining, again with Adele usually at her side. Adele frequently thinks of her mom when planning a menu or party, and she cherishes the family recipes. Helen had people come to the house all the time. And she was always cooking or baking something to bring somewhere else. Sometimes the affiliation was through Art’s work, sometimes Helen’s work, church or charity things, square dance club functions, neighbors. And sometimes people would just show up unannounced to drop in visit, and Helen always handled that gracefully.

 

For many years every Friday night, Art and Helen hosted the Duck and Dive square dance club lessons in the basement of their home. Arlen and Adele would play in this basement, but on Friday all the toys had to be put away and the place prepared for a crowd. They were avid dancers and contributors to the club, and it was a focal point of their lively social life.

 

Helen and Art were both passionate about their children's school activities, especially band, so they were very active “band boosters” throughout the high school years. We can’t recall Helen ever missing a Rolla High School concert band, marching band, or jazz band performance. She was also always at Adele’s events, such as school plays. It appears Helen had a deeply ingrained instinct toward hospitality, and it carried through her whole life. Even just recently while living in the memory care unit at Sunrise, Helen would always try to offer visitors a snack, coffee, a cup of tea, a sandwich, a piece of cake, whatever she could.

 

Helen’s work ethic was relentless in her homemaking. She eventually got a housekeeper to come in and help once a week, but you did not see her sit down much in those Rolla days. She really served her family doing the laundry (delegating frequently to Adele) and keeping us on track. And drying stuff on a clothesline. She did so much ironing. Ironing handkerchiefs, bedsheets, underwear, you name it. She kept the place tidy, organized and on a thrifty budget. A safe and loving family home was so important to her.

 

In the Rolla house, there was one telephone, on a desk in the kitchen. That desk was command central for Helen Morris. It seemed like she was on the phone a lot taking care of things. She had calendars and notepads laid out and action lists, and if Adele got restless, she’d write up math problems for her to do. She was a good letter writer, and meticulous about remembering birthdays, anniversaries, and such. It was important to her to recognize certain holidays as well. She always put out decorations for Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Celebrating the holidays and seasons was something she passionately did for her family to recognize the time of year and our time together.

 

While living in Rolla, Art would usually get a summer job. The family would travel to different places each summer (Aiken SC, Richland WA, Los Alamos NM, Oak Ridge TN, et al). Guess who organized these trips? Helen Morris, using a telephone and the US mail, would plan for trips arranging lodging, activities and sightseeing along the way. Helen also took Arlen and Adele on trips to visit her family in North Dakota.

 

After Arlen and Adele moved out of the house, Helen eventually slowed down a little bit. She retired from the public schools and got a part time job helping students at the university. Helen and Art were able to take some nice trips on their own. In 1997 after Art retired, they moved out to San Diego. Art and Helen immediately made friends in San Diego, continued a great social life, went to, and got active in square dancing in Rancho Bernardo and Poway California. Helen loved outings to afternoon teas, and they enjoyed traveling, especially visiting their children and grandchildren. Art and Helen had a rich and rewarding retirement in California.

 

In 2019, Art and Helen moved to Northern Virginia to be close to daughter Adele, needing more assistance in their daily living. As time went on, Helen’s hearing loss, vision loss, memory loss, and mobility and other medical challenges made it increasingly difficult for her to maintain a social network and be herself. Her family and friends were saddened to see these issues leading to her isolation. But there still were many moments of good cheer with her family, and Helen was quite pragmatic about the decline in her quality of life.

 

Helen’s family feel grief at her passing, but it is mixed with relief that she no longer suffers. We were so blessed to have this dynamic and terrific woman in our lives. Her powerful dedication and love to her family still astonishes. 

 

Helen Morris is survived by her husband Arthur Morris, son Arlen, daughter-in-law Mary Morris, grandson Avery Morris, daughter Adele Morris, son-in-law Ted Jones, granddaughter Sophie Jones, and grandson Alexander Jones.

When words can't fully express what we want to say, sometimes a small gift can. Visit our Memorial Store for personalized gifts, keepsake jewelry and to plant a memorial tree.

We use cookies to improve your browsing experience and analyze site traffic.
<privacyLink>Privacy Policy</privacyLink>.

<firstParagraph>We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze how you use this website, store your preferences, and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you. These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent.</firstParagraph><secondParagraph>You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience.</secondParagraph>

<firstParagraph>We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.</firstParagraph><secondParagraph>The cookies that are categorized as 'Necessary' are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site.</secondParagraph>

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

Analytics

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

Functional

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

Necessary

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

Performance

Customize Cookie Preferences

Verification Successful!

New Message

The following files could not be uploaded

Ways you can honor {memorialName}'s memory:

Donation Link

Upcoming Event

Featured Mementos

Welcome Message

Select an item to highlight

Add a highlighted item

Customize which items you’d like to highlight on the memorial

Create Account

Become a Keeper

As a free {brandName} user, you will only be able to make 5 photos and videos public.

As a free {brandName} user, only the first five (5) Mementos are visible to page visitors. You can change which Mementos are public by dragging and dropping a photo or video to one of the first five positions. Upgrading to {brandName} Plus will make all 10 Mementos selected visible to the public.

All Mementos

This option is only available to Keeper Plus users.

To allow yourself and the rest of the community to view all images and videos, and to enable everyone to download their own copy of these mementos, upgrade your account to Keeper Plus.

This memento is not visible to visitors

Your community has posted {itemCount} more pictures and videos that honor {firstName}'s memory. To view them all, and to enable everyone to download their own copy of each, this account will need to upgrade to Keeper Plus.

View all images and videos with Keeper Plus

Our Obituary Assistant helps you craft a meaningful life story in minutes. Review and edit every detail, and unlock more features with Keeper Plus.

Obituary Assistant

Spend as much time as you need working on your Memorial page before it is visible to the public, and much more, when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Save Page as Draft

Create unlimited event pages and unlock a suite of powerful features to help you seamlessly coordinate event details, invites, and more when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Event

Create a full picture of your loved one’s community and add unlimited family and friends to Loved Ones when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Loved One

Create unlimited Memorials — and unlock unlimited images and videos, event pages, and advanced privacy settings — to help you keep memories alive when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Memorial Page

Add unlimited Stories to highlight the all the things that made your loved one unique, from milestones, images, albums, documents, locations, and much more.

Highlight Stories

Upgrading to Keeper Plus means you can add additional Keepers to help you gather Mementos and tributes, approve content, build out a family tree, and tell {firstName}' story on Keeper.

Invite Keepers with Keeper Plus

Upload and display unlimited photos and videos, use unlimited Story templates to highlight key moments, and allow friends and family to download their own copies when you upgrade to Keeper Plus. 

Better Mementos with Keeper Plus

To access memorial related configurations that control the display of the banner upgrade to Keeper Plus.

This configuration  is not available on your current plan

Create a meaningful link path to add a personal touch to {firstName}'s memorial.

Custom Memorial link

Gift Messages

SENDING AS A GIFT?

Cart

About 1-800 Flowers

"Flowers were beautiful and they arrived in time before the funeral. Thank you and will purchase more in the future.!"

Hearing Tears

"Beautiful flowers, I've always enjoyed sending them to my love ones for sympathy and they have always love them very much Thanks for making people feel good when receiving them."

Sympathy

"This was true to the photo and good to know family took arrangement after the service."

Beautiful arrangement.  Perfect size for service.

Some of the great things our customers say about us

We're here to make it a little easier, with thoughtful gifts for the services & home, along with expert advice on how to be there during a difficult time.

Flowers

Gift Baskets

Express Your Deepest Sympathy

About Us

Perfect Condolence Gift

No one is meant to grieve alone

Peace and love

Product is made, packaged, and sent with love

Keepsakes

How to add your gift message

Packaging Information

Shipping information

Add a Personalized Charm to the Ornament:

Other Keepsakes

Install KeeperQR onto any headstone, urn, or other memorial in minutes.

Install

Use your phone or tablet to scan the unique code — no other tools required!

Scan

All three of our elegant KeeperQR designs are printed using durable, weather-resistant aluminum designed for indoors and outdoor use on headstones and urns, memorial benches and trees, or other monuments to your loved one’s life

Built to Last

Get <discount>50% off</discount> Keeper Plus with your KeeperQR purchase

Keeper Basic

Learn About Our Plans

Connect the physical and digital worlds to share your loved one’s life story with friends and family, no matter where they are.

KeeperQR Memorial QR Code Plaques

Planting a memorial tree or bereavement tree is a unique, environmentally conscious way to pay tribute and honor the memory of your loved one. Keeper Memorials is supporting American Forests to plant whitebark pine trees as well as thornscrub trees in select regions of the US and Canada.

Memorial Trees

KeeperQR is designed to pair seamlessly with a Keeper digital memorial. Use our FREE intuitive tools to create biographies, maps, and timelines, share photos and videos, and more with customizable features built to commemorate your loved one’s life’s story.

Powered by Keeper

Lifetime without any hidden costs or subscription traps

One time payment

Keeper is SOC2 compliant, keeping your memories safe and secure.

Data protection guaranteed

We bring your QR Codes to any corner of the globe

Worldwide Shipping

Our durable and beautiful QR code plaques create seamless connection between your loved one’s physical memorial and their digital memorial, allowing visitors to their final resting place instant access to their life legacy.

Memorial.

Honor their memory, share their story

A KeeperQR is a weather-resistant plaque with a custom QR code that links directly to your loved one’s digital memorial. When placed on a headstone, urn, bench, or tree, it allows friends and family to scan and view their life story instantly

What is a KeeperQR?

They’re built to withstand outdoor elements and adhere to most surfaces.

Where can I place the KeeperQR?

How does it work?

Frequently asked questions

KeeperQR

E-Certificate Design

Plant Memorial Trees as a Living Tribute

BRAZIL

CANADA

FLORIDA

OREGON

Memorial Project Reach

Memorial trees start at {price} per tree, with discounts for multiple trees

Our Commitment

Gift Baskets & Food

Keeper Plus

QR Plaques

Keepers Featured Products

A Greener Way to Remember

Learn about our Partners:

Help Us Complete Your Order

Remembrance Store

Through your unique link, your client can sign up for Keeper and create a Memorial for a loved one. When the Memorial page is completed by the family, it will appear on your microsite and website. You will be the main Keeper Administrator of the Memorial, along with the family member that created the page.

Invite Your Clients to Create a Memorial

Invite Families

Your Email Notifications

Notifications

Email Unsubscribe Settings

Other Settings

With your active Keeper PLUS subscription, you get unlimited access to a suite of powerful features:

Allow visitors to download a local copy of all images and videos.

Download Media

Create a custom and meaningful URL, unique to your loved one, for each Memorial page.

Editable URL

Plan public or private events and invite your loved ones.

Event Pages

Add images and create profile pages to illustrate the history and genealogy of your loved one.

Family Tree

Invite unlimited administrators to help you manage every Memorial page you have.

Keeper Administrators

Visitors enjoy unrestricted access to all uploaded images and videos.

Unlimited Media

Create unlimited Memorial pages for your loved ones.

Memorial Pages

You will be able to upload Full HD videos instead of embedded links.

Video Uploading

Your Profile

Add a business user

Edit a business user

Are you sure you want to delete these users from these brands? You will need to manually add these users again.

If the user is a part of multiple brands, you will have to delete the user from each one individually

Delete Users from Brands?

Users Settings & Notifications

Users

Are you sure you want to delete these users? This action will revoke their privileges across all brands.

Are you sure you want to delete this user? This action will revoke their privileges across all brands.

Delete Users from all Brands?

Delete User from Brand?

Are you sure you want to delete {totalDeletes} from this user?

Delete Roles from this User?

Are you sure you want to delete this user from this brand? You will need to manually add this user again.

Delete User from this Brand?

Requires users to confirm their email every time they would like to share a tribute on a Memorial page.

When Email Tribute Validation is turned OFF, Guest users do not need to confirm their email address before their tribute is published.

When Email Tribute Validation is turned ON, Guest users will need to confirm their email address before their tribute is published. They will receive an email with a confirmation link they must click.

Requires users to confirm their email only the first time they would like to share a tribute on a Memorial page.

Email Tribute Validation

If Flagged Content is turned OFF, content that has been flagged will remain public until they have been Approved or Removed from the Requests Center.

If Flagged Content is turned ON, content that has been flagged will be hidden until they have been Approved or Removed from the Requests Center.

Hide Flagged Content

Language

Email Notifications

Are you sure you want to delete the Memorial for {name}? This action will permanently remove the memorial from the system.

Delete Memorial?

When Memorial Request Moderation is turned OFF, Memorials will automatically be published.

When Memorial Request Moderation is turned ON, Memorials will only be published if and when you approve them. Memorials can be published or deleted in the Requests center.

Memorial Request Moderation

Moderation Settings

This will permanently delete your account. The business account, and business page will not be deleted. To deactivate your account, there must be another admin user assigned to your organization.

Are you sure you want to deactivate this account?

When Override Tribute Moderation is turned OFF, the tribute moderation settings on Memorial pages will be hidden and other Keepers cannot override the tribute moderation settings specified by your organization.

When Override Tribute Moderation is turned ON, other Keepers can view and change the tribute moderation settings of the Memorial pages they manage. (Each Memorial page will default to the organization’s tribute moderation setting upon creation.) 

Override Tribute Moderation

If the AI Content Moderation is OFF, text areas containing profane language will be published.  Tributes can however be flagged and removed at any time.

If the AI Content Moderation is ON, text areas containing profane language will not be published and the user will receive an error message.

AI Content Moderation

When Tribute Moderation is turned OFF, Tributes will automatically be published. Once published, users can flag inappropriate or spam content. You can instantly delete any Tributes published on a Memorial that you administer.

When Tribute Moderation is turned ON, Tributes will only be published if and when you approve them. Tributes can be approved or rejected in the Requests center.

Tribute Moderation

When Tribute Validation is turned OFF, Tributes will automatically be published. Once published, users can flag inappropriate or spam content. You can instantly delete any Tributes published on a Memorial that you administer.

When Tribute Validation is turned ON, Tributes will only be published if and when you approve them. Tributes can be approved or rejected in the Requests center.

Helen Morris Obituary | Altogether