Patricia Morrow

Marylin Patricia Mills Morrow, 98, of Jacksonville, died on June 14, 2024 at St. Vincents's Hospital in Jacksonville, FL. She was born on August 1925 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota at a time when older people there remembered the Custer fight. "Patsy" or "Pat" was the youngest of four children born to Naomi Russell Mills and David Henry Mills. She was only 20 months old when her mother died in childbirth after a fall. Her father later remarried. When she turned five, Pat was sent to board at the Holy Rosary Mission School (now called the Red Cloud Indian School) in Pine Ridge, where she completed 7 th grade. The school was only five miles away from her home, but this distance was significant in those days. Pat was already familiar with the mission and was so happy to be able to go to school there. At Holy Rosary, many students spoke Lakota but classes were held in English. A stellar student, Pat skipped 6 th grade. The school was run by the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity. Pat retained a rich and detailed memory of her life at the school and she credits the Irish and German Sisters with laying the foundation for academic excellence, a strong work ethic and a love of music and poetry. Her father worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the family moved to New Mexico in 1936 where her father had been transferred. Pat attended St. Catherine's Indian School, Albuquerque Indian School and graduated from the Santa Fe Indian School in 1941 at age 16. She qualified as the valedictorian but had to settle for salutatorian because only a male could claim the top spot. Pat wanted to be a nurse, but at 16, she was too young to attend nursing school. Her stepmother sent her to Minnesota and then Wisconsin to take care of her stepsister's children. Ever anxious to learn, Pat took additional classes at a local high school. When she turned 18, she started a three-year nursing school program at the Hotel Dieu School of Nursing in El Paso, run by the Sisters of Charity. Because of the war, there was a shortage of doctors and medical supplies and students were given a lot of responsibility. Pat graduated early and received her diploma in January 1946, but it was not considered legal until her class officially graduated in September. In May 1946, she married a handsome Navy pilot, Raymond Kenneth Morrow, Jr. whom she had met the year before in El Paso. The newlyweds moved around following military orders and eventually settled in Jacksonville, Fl. before the marriage ended in divorce. To support her four boys, she worked as an obstetrics nurse at St. Vincents and Baptist Hospitals and later for the late Dr. Max Suter. In retirement she worked part-time at a women's health care clinic. She ensured that all four boys went through St. Matthew's School and got a proper Catholic education. Pat was known to her family as "Unci," a Lakota word meaning Grandmother or honored female elder. At reunions with other members of the Mills family, respect for this honorific was particularly notable. Throughout her life, Pat had an extraordinary memory and could recount details as far back as early childhood. Many of these memories are preserved in an informal memoir, shared with family members, that was transcribed by a close family friend who interviewed her in 2017. She is remembered for her love of family and friends, her generous spirit and inquisitive nature. Pat was predeceased in death by her brothers Benny and Roy, her sister Geri, by sons Jerry and Ken. Survivors include her sons, Patrick of Jacksonville and Don (Ann) of Tallahassee; grandchildren Ken Morrow, Corey Pearson, Melissa Grunthal, Ben Gipson, Anna Sortwell and Carson Morrow; eleven great-grandchildren and beloved nieces, nephews, cousins and other Mills family members. A private celebration of life will be held at a later date. Contributions in Pat's memory may be made to Running Strong for American Indian Youth at Indianyouth.org.; 8301 Richmond Highway, Ste. 200, Alexandria, VA 22309.

Patricia Morrow

August 3, 1925 - June 14, 2024