Mary Morris, age 93, born October 1, 1932, passed away peacefully in her sleep on March 12, 2026. She was a proud native of Fairhill, Menlough, County Galway, Ireland. Our Mom was fearless, adventurous and hardworking. At the age of 16, she got a job working as a secretary to a young attorney in the town of Athenry which was about 15 miles from her home in Fairhill. Every week, she would catch a bus in Menlough early Monday morning, ride to Athenry, work there all week, stay in a boarding house and then bus back down home to Menlough after work on Friday. She did this for about 2 years and then decided to leave home to follow her brothers Andy and John and many of her Screene cousins to London. She absolutely loved London and lived there for about 5 years, but then one day, on a complete whim, she and a girlfriend of hers just picked up and moved to Toronto, without knowing anyone there or anything about Toronto or Canada. Can you imagine? How crazy! She lived in Toronto for about 5 years, during which time she ended up "re-meeting" our Dad there. They had known each other a little – or maybe more accurately knew a little about each other - back home in Menlough, but my Dad was about 5 years older

than her and had already left home on his own world adventures to London, San Francisco and Toronto. They "re-met", fell in love and got married in Toronto on December 27, 1958. They immigrated to Chicago on February 8, 1960 to raise our family, joining the Glynns and O'Neils who were here ahead of them. Our Mom was one of the smartest people you could ever meet – she was an absolute genius at mathematics. She was hard working, witty, fearless, loving, religious, obviously adventurous and determined. Our Dad died 49 years ago, leaving her a 45 year old widow with 3 boys aged 16, 14 and 9, she was our rock, persevering and doing everything and anything she could to give us a great life – which she did. She often did side jobs like waitressing at the Irish Village (God Bless our cousin Jim and Kay O'Neil, the proprietors of that wonderful restaurant) or banquet halls (which she (and Jim haha) would very readily admit she was absolutely awful at) at night or on weekends, in addition to her 20 year plus "day" job as the Executive Secretary to the Executive Vice President, Commercial at Banker's Life and Casualty Insurance Company. She absolutely loved that job and her boss Mr. Bentle.

She greatly loved and was completely devoted to her parents, her 4 siblings (including her younger brother Martin who survives her at home in Fairhill and Thomas who tragically passed away on his Christening Day), our Dad, her children (including our beloved brother Johhny whose very early and unexpected death completely shook her to the core) and grandchildren, my wife Esma and my sister-in law Connie, and she would do absolutely anything for all of us. She was a devoted fan and attendee at all of our 3 sons' hundreds of baseball, football and basketball games and tournaments over the past 24 years, very rarely missing a game (no matter how far away it was) – she was not a great driver (usually going 20 mph in a 40 mph zone, kind of oblivious to those around her), but she would drive to the end of the Earth for our sons' games. Nothing was ever too hard for her. She trusted God completely and without question. She was a deeply loyal and faithful friend and loved the Irish Heritage Center (where she was a founding member, a tireless volunteer and a treasured employee) and the St. Patrick Fathers. She was a proud Sacred Heart

Pioneer and member of the Shamrock American Club and the Galway Fellowship Club. Sadly, many of her beloved relatives and friends have preceded her in death, including her loving parents Kate (nee Screene) and Andrew Gormally; her beloved and devoted husband Pat "Bob" Morris; her loving brothers Andy, John and Thomas Gormally; and her most beloved son Johnny Morris. I'm sure that she is looking forward to being reunited with all of them in Heaven soon. She is survived by her beloved brother Martin (Fairhill, Menlough); her loving sons Jimmy and Pat (Esma); and her loving daughters-in-law Esma and Connie.  Beloved "Granno" to her adoring grandchildren Amanda, Sean Francis, Christina, Patrick, Ryan, Sean Vincent and Jack. She will be greatly missed by us and all who knew her. May her memory live on forever! RIP Mom – it's well earned - thanks for being you and doing all that did for us! You were truly one-of-a-kind, and we were blessed to have you

in our lives. We're all hoping to continue to make you proud. Love always and forever! God Bless you until we all meet again in Heaven…

Visitation Sunday March 22, 2026 from 3-8 p.m.  Funeral Monday, March 23 at St. Juliana Church at 10 a.m.  Interment All Saints Cemetery.  To view the Mass Livestream go to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCoAqHbwIQ0