Judy Lane Morris

The Reverend Judy Lane Morris, age sixty eight of Knoxville, passed away on August 19, 2014 after a third bout with cancer. Reverend Morris was born Judy Lane Morris in Belden, Mississippi, on 23 December 1945. She received the following diplomas and degrees; Graduate, Smithville High school, Smithville, Mississippi, 1964: Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Memphis State University, 1977; Master of Arts in English, Memphis State University, 1979; ABD (All but Dissertation) certificate, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, 1981; Master of Theology from University of the South School of Theology in 2009. She was ordained a Deacon in the Dioceses of Mississippi at St. Andrews Cathedral in Jackson, Mississippi, in May 2009 and ordained to the Priesthood in the Dioceses of Mississippi at St. Peters by-the-Lake in Brandon, Mississippi, on April 11, 2010. Reverend Morris was still canonically resident in the Dioceses of Mississippi on the day of her death, but in July of 2013 she was licensed to celebrate and preach in the Dioceses of East Tennessee. As a resident of Knoxville, Rev. Morris chose the Church of the Good Shepherd to be her home church and served there as celebrant in May 2014. Prior to accepting a call to the Priesthood in the Episcopal church, Reverend Morris served as a railway clerk for the Frisco Railways in Memphis and lived most of her life in northwest Mississippi and west Tennessee. From 1985 through the spring of 2007, Morris was an English instructor at Northwest Mississippi Community College in Senatobia and she attended the school of Theology in Sewanee, Tennessee, 2007-2009. She received a Masters of Theology degree and returned to Mississippi to begin her ministry, at St. Peters by-the Lake EC in Brandon. In 2013, Reverend Morris resigned her position as Associate Rector at St, Peters EC in Brandon and moved to Knoxville. Until her death she resided in a condominium complex in Powell, Tennessee. Her constant companion was an eight year old Yorkie named Rascal. Reverend Judy Lane Morris is the author of several works on scripture, church history, and Theology, along with several works of fiction and poetry. Most of these works are available on Amazon Kindle. A Memorial Service will be held for Reverend Morris at the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church at 2 pm on Saturday August 23 with the Right Reverend George D. Young the third Officiating, reception to follow. Her ashes will be Interred near her parents graves at Pearce Chapel Cemetery in Smithville, MS, and near the family home of her friend and pastoral care provider for many years, the Reverend Fran Vickers, of Scottsboro, Alabama. Rev. Morris is Preceded in death by her maternal grandparents Erskine and Dove Pickering of Pontotoc, Ms, her paternal grandparents Hampton and Beulah Morris of Smithville, MS, her parents Otho and Jewel Morris of Smithville, and her brother Otho Gene Morris of Smithville. Reverend Morris is survived by her brother Tony Morris of Sulligent, AL, Aunt Fannie Crowder of Saltillo, MS, Aunt Betty Kozlowitz of the Nettleton area, cousin Janis Morris Curry and her family from Irving, TX, niece Michelle Wardlow and several Morris nephews and by many Morris, Pickering, Crowder, Kozlowitz, Sargent, and Roby cousins and extended family in the Northeast Mississippi area. In lieu of flowers please make donations to the American Cancer Society. Arrangements by Mynatt Funeral Home Fountain City Chapel.