Obituary of Virginia Morris

Morris, Virginia (Swanke) Born October 20, 1920 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Ginny was the daughter of Arthur and Emma Swanke (Flohr), wife of Arthur Marvin Morris, mother of Cynthia (Frederick Riebe) and Mark (Nancy Norgaard) Morris, grandmother to Uli Riebe (Nicole McDonald) and Ilse (Elijah Colby), loving great-grandmother to Waylon Arthur Riebe and many lucky cats and dogs. At age 12, Ginny sailed around the world on the Cunard line, forever fueling her love of travel, which she enjoyed with family and friends throughout her life. Her first glimpse of Art was in 1937 when she was a freshman and he a sophomore at Washburn High School. They continued to date at the University of Minnesota, where he was a DKE and she was a Tri Delt. They became engaged on the night of December 7, 1941 with the news of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. They married on January 17, 1942. At the University of Minnesota she studied fine art with Jo Lutz Rollins and art history with Donald Torbert. She graduated from the Pepin Academy of Fashion, Minneapolis and attended the Minneapolis Institute of Art School where she continued to study painting with Walter Quirt, Keith Havens and Arthur Kerrick. She belonged to the Minnesota Artists Association where she studied with fine artists Bernie Quick and Cameron Booth. She exhibited in juried shows at the Walker Art Center and the 1st International Exhibition in Webergen-circle, Burgsteinfurt, Germany. As a member of the Junior League of Minneapolis she was their first chairman of the Art Committee and developed their puppet theater. Later she designed and created all the costumes for their production of The Wizard of Oz. She was a member of the Minneapolis Women's Club, the Edina Women's Club, and St. Stephen's Episcopal Church of Edina. Her family wishes to thank the attentive staff at Friendship Village, Bloomington, for their loving care of both Ginny and Art.