Valori Morris
Valori Dee Morris, age 51, peacefully entered into eternal rest on July 13, 2015, at her home in St. Louis, Missouri. She was preceded in death by her father Richard Morris, her mother Delores “Dee” Morris, and her brother Richard “Rick” Morris. She is survived by her sister-in-law Debra Morris and nephews Brayton, Brandon, and Christopher Morris, all of Overland Park, Kansas, and her step-mother Joanne Morris, step-sisters Andrea (Scott) Boeser and Carrie Atterberry, step-nephews and nieces Nathan and Ryan Boeser and Kara and Lauren Atterberry, all of St. Louis, Missouri. She also leaves behind many other dear extended family members and friends. The family would like to thank everyone who prayed for, supported, and helped Valori along her journey the past two years, especially the medical teams in Reno, Nevada and San Francisco, California, in addition to the doctors of Washington University and the staff of the Siteman Cancer Center and BJC Hospice in St. Louis, Missouri.
Valori was born and grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She loved to travel and had a strong sense of adventure, which took her to live in many cities throughout the United States. Guided by Valori’s love for animals, she received her Doctorate of Veterinarian Medicine degree from Texas A&M University and spent many years as a beloved veterinarian in several western states including Texas, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada. She loved the outdoors, especially skiing, hiking and bird watching. She was also an avid sports fan, particularly fond of baseball and tennis.
A memorial mass will be held in her honor on Saturday, July 18, 2015, at 10:30 am at St. Anthony’s of Padua, 3009 High Ridge Blvd, High Ridge, MO 63049. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are welcome to The Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation, Campaign for the CURE, 5526 West 13400 South #510, Salt Lake City, Utah 84096 or online at http://cholangiocarcinoma.org/campaign-for-the-cure-2015.
Valori will be greatly missed. She was a great friend to everyone she met. A very kind and gentle soul was she. Now she is in heaven with some of her loved ones and some of the fur babies she treated and took great care of. You will be missed.
I did not know Val well, but I was blessed to have met her as she was a very good friend to two of my co-workers who are very special friends of mine also. Although I only met her the one time she displayed so much gratitude to me for just being a friend to her friends. After she left she sent me a gift of goodies and a Thank You card. I was in awe of this women. I could not fathom that only talking with her for 10 minutes would result in so much gratitude. She was and is definitely an Amazing Angel who is now spreading her joy in Heaven. You will be greatly missed, Ms. Valori.
Valori was a really special person. She lost her mother and brother while also battling her own illness, and yet she always remained upbeat and positive. She rarely complained, and instead was always concerned about others – very generous and kind. Valori made a point of always supporting my sports teams, even though her heart was always with the San Francisco teams. She made my husband and son laugh all the time. She loved my furry kids as if they were her own. It was a privilege to have been her friend and I will miss her greatly.
Valori was a compassionate and warm-hearted person with a true cowgirl’s strength of spirit. She always had a soft twinkle in her eyes and an ingratiating, genuine smile. Her brother Ricky was, will always be, my best friend ever since we were ~4 years old and lived across the street from each other in Albuquerque. Along with my sister Lori, the four of us grew up together like second sisters and brothers to each other. Ricky and Valori moved outside of town to Bosque Farms and later even further away to Los Lunas, New Mexico. Even with a 45-minute drive separating us, we went back and forth to spend several day stretches at a time at each other’s houses and that continued through High School.
Ricky and I never tired of playing a form of home-run derby we invented with a Nerf ball, a clothesline as the outfield wall, and a baseball bat. We played for hours and hours into the night and frequently early morning hours. My sister and Val thought we were nuts, and looking back, were mostly correct. I suspect all the time around “nerf ball”, our trips to the Albuquerque Duke’s (now Isotopes) AAA baseball games, and Ricky’s baseball and All-star teams must have rubbed off into Valori’s later enthusiasm for the game.
Moving to the country expanded Valori’s set of pets to two large German shepherds, Lady and Brutus, plus two Chihuahuas Hunny-Bunny and the runt of HB’s litter Bambi who comically always acted as the leader of the pack. Along with horses, a maniacal goat always sneaking around trying to head butt you, chickens, ducks, cows, and an irascible mule named Jingles that with Brutus took turns chasing each other, Valori had quite the zoo.
We both shared a love for animals and both grew up wanting to become Veterinarians. But even back then, I noticed she had a special touch and the animals noticeably responded to her differently than anyone else with a special trust. I can’t tell you how proud I was of Valori when I later found out she followed through on her childhood dream and became a Vet. I know her patients and their owners were lucky to be in her care.
Unfortunately after college years, Ricky going into the Navy, and with multiple families’ moves to different states – we lost touch with each other and my occasional internet searches were unsuccessful until just a few weeks ago upon seeing first Ricky’s obituary and now Valori’s. With Valori along with her big brother and both parents, my entire second childhood family has passed and a big chapter of my life has closed. We’re blessed to have known them and they will all be missed.
I’m comforted in knowing that Valori’s trials with the long illness are over now and I can only imagine the eruption of pure joy as her family and the huge menagerie of animals and pets gone before welcomed her into heaven.
God bless Valori, her heavenly family, and the family and friends left behind.
Dearest Valle..not a day passed since I first saw you that I did not think of you..my true soul mate..my twin Gemini..now for the first time you see me and know my feeling and understand the truth..my love never ended..thank you for the spirit message..God speed..say hello to dee..I will love you forever ..even until the end of time..kent
Chuck Priddy retold our fun with Valori and Ricky with such precision. When I first met Valori at the age of 3, I felt like God had made us sisters! Our names, after all, were very similar.
Some of my fondest childhood memories are with Valori and Ricky. Chuck left out the many times we tried to stowaway in each other’s cars when the fun trips together were ending. I remember the “cubby” in the back of their VW Bug was quite small, but Val always managed to get me stuffed in with a blanket on top. After a few miles down the road, I would pop up and surprise Mrs. Morris. The first time I did so, she screamed and almost ran off the road. Val and I giggled all the way back home.
Val had nicknames for everyone she loved, and I was always amazed at how kind Val and Rick treated each other growing up. They were such sweet people. My heart breaks that they are not with us any more. May God bless them both!