Catherine 'Bay' Morris

http://newsok.com/bay-morris/article/2198930

MORRIS Bay, 81. Born March 10, 1906 to Elsie Waterbury Morris and Gouverneur Morris. Died September 14, 1987. In this Bicentennial year of the Constitutional Convention, it seems appropriate to note that Bay's maternal ancestor Robert Livingston of New York and paternal ancestor Gouverneur Morris, then of Pennsylvania, were members of this convention. Gouverneur Morris was a member of the committee which prepared the final draft which was signed by the delegates on September 17, 1787. He served as the successor to Thomas Jefferson as Ambassador to France, and became U.S. Senator from New York in 1802.

Bay's father, an author, was best known for the excellence of his short stories. Predeceased by her parents and a nephew Johnny Ramsey-Hill, she is survived by a sister, Pats Splane of Grants Pass, Oregon and three cousins: Federal Judge Dudley Bonsal and Monty Waterbury of New York City and retired State Department career officer Hon. Philip W. Bonsal of Washington, D.C. A Natural born athlete, in her younger years Bay excelled in horsemanship, tennis and fencing. Her poetry was published in literary magazines and in the Los Angeles Times. She was a distant relative of lifelong friend of the first wife of recently deceased Fred Astaire of Beverly Hills, California. Bay acted as Fred Astaire's secretary for several years prior to World War II. She served as Public Relations Director of Pasadena California chapter of the American Red Cross. In this capacity she wrote and produced radio skits and plays, which were acted by members of the Pasadena Playhouse. These received recognition by the national office of H. R. C. For several years Bay was the ranch manager for Wallace E. Pratt, geologist and retired Vice-President of Standard Oil Co., where she lived in the foothills of the Guadaloupe mountains of west Texas (Now Pratt National Park).

In 1952 Bay joined an old friend, Edith Schroeder, in Okla. and started raising Chinchillas. She was a charter member of what is now the Okla. branch of Empress Chinchilla Breeders Co-operative. The quality of their animals won many awards in Okla. and surrounding state shows through 1981 at which time their herd was sold because of Bay's declining health. She died of complications associated with cancer at their home in Nicoma Park. A memorial service for friends will be held at the Bill Eisenhour Funeral Home, 8805 N.E. 23 St., September 16th at 7:00pm. Memorial Contributions may be made to the O.U. Foundation account number 40406 for the School of Social Work to establish a chair in teaching Values and Ethics in Social Work; the O.U. Medical Research Foundation for Cancer Research; or Empress Chinchilla Breeders Co-op, Inc., P.O. Box 402, Morrison, Colo. 80465.