- Date Of Birth: September 13, 1918
- Date Of Death: January 17, 2011
- State: Idaho
Margaret Morse, 92, of Boise, Idaho, passed away peacefully January 17, 2011, in Chubbuck, Idaho, where she had been living with her daughter and son-in-law, Helen and Robert Chase.
Margaret was born September 13, 1918, to Verne and Helen Taylor. With her father suffering from a post war illness in a veteran’s hospital in Washington state, she grew up in Twin Falls, Idaho, with her mother and younger brother, Bill, in a small apartment on Shoshone Street. She loved her childhood, filled with books, games, picnics, rides out to Shoshone Falls, and most of all, music. An upright piano was the dominant feature in her apartment and her mother insisted she practice for at least an hour each day. She had a special talent for the piano, a talent which has blessed countless people during her life. She shared a special friendship with her Aunt Frances, who was her mother’s youngest sister, yet only five days older than Margaret.
After graduating high school, Margaret went to Albion State Normal College. She loved college life where she played piano for the chorale, was a member of the tap dancing team and roomed with her best friend, Charlotte Babcock Wilson. She met the handsome and charming Vernon Morse there, and they were married on June 1st, 1939. On September 1st, 1940, she received her certificate from Albion and was ready to start teaching. She and Vernon lived for a while in Samaria, Idaho, where she taught elementary school and learned to bake the most delicious pies by helping her mother-in-law, Sarah, and her sister-in-law, Verla Hill, cook for the farmhands during harvest time.
Margaret and Vernon’s first child, Roger, was born in Malad, Idaho. She and Vernon moved to where there was work, and their second child, Rena, was born in Blackfoot. Rodney, the third, was born in Twin Falls, and after finally settling in Boise, their fourth child, Helen, was born there. Each move meant dragging an old, heavy upright piano, her prized possession, along with them.
Margaret taught 1st grade at Cole Elementary for a while and then went to work for the Idaho Statesman, where she stayed until retirement. During that time, she was a pianist for the Mormonaires men’s chorus, Sunday school teacher, Primary teacher, cub scout leader, boy scout merit badge committee chairperson, piano teacher, and ever since anyone can remember, the organist for the Boise Sixth Ward. It seemed she accompanied nearly every singer in town and her home was filled with the sweet sounds of their voices and her skillful playing.
When her beloved husband became ill with Alzheimer’s, Margaret cared for him for 13 years in their home. In the early stages of his disease, when he became a little agitated, she would sit down at the piano and play some of his favorite songs, and he would be calm again. Music was the legacy she left us, and now she is accompanying a heavenly chorus.
She is preceded in death by her father, Verne Lee Taylor; her mother, Helen Campbell Taylor; her brother, William Edgar Taylor; her husband, Vernon Evans Morse; her son-in-law, Richard Karl Nelson; and her grandson, Bradley Winter Morse. She is survived by her children, Roger Morse, Rena Nelson, Rod Morse, and Helen Chase; 21 grandchildren; 52 great-grandchildren, and 5 great-great-grandchildren.
