1928-2020 • La Grande

Betty Evangeline Morse, 92, of La Grande, died June 11 as a result of an accident in her garden. Interment will be at Valley View Cemetery in Newberg with a private family graveside service. Arrangements are entrusted to Daniels-Knopp Funeral, Cremation & Life Celebration Center in La Grande.

Betty was born March 16, 1928, in McMinnville, one of 12 children born to William Wallace and Amy Elizabeth (Doney) Newton. She graduated from Newberg High School with the class of 1946.

Betty worked as a secretary to the city attorney of Newberg. Her desk was next to a window in the city hall near where Leonard “Lenny” Morse was pumping gas at the Flying A gas station. After much smiling and many greetings he finally got the courage to ask for a date, and on April 4, 1947, Betty and Lenny were married in Stevenson, Washington. In Lenny’s words: “Love is grand!”

Betty did floral design and had a custom cake business for several years with Leonard, but mostly she was a homemaker, wife, mother, grandmother and good friend. During the years she lived on a farm in Newberg, she tended sheep, raised chickens and peafowl, grew Christmas and fruit trees and hosted VBS kids in the summer. In 1992, Betty and Leonard moved to La Grande from Woodburn Senior Estates.

Betty and Leonard belonged to the Christian Church in Newberg and Valley Fellowship in La Grande. Betty also belonged to the Union County Historical Society, Grande Ronde Bird Club and a women’s Bible study group. She enjoyed gardening, growing many varieties of vegetables and flowers every summer. She also enjoyed fishing for trout and steelhead and had always hoped to fish for salmon.

An accomplished quilter, Betty made a quilt for each of her grandchildren. She also made numerous baby quilts, knitted hundreds of hats for those in need and sewed dresses for needy little girls around the world.

Surviving relatives include her husband of 73 years, Leonard of La Grande; daughter, Wendy Schmidt of La Grande; daughter and son-in-law, Becky and Willie Noll of Summerville; and five grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; siblings, Robert, Daniel, William, Alonzo, Edwin, Richard, Samuel, John, Adria, Joy and Rose; son, David Morse; grandson, Jedidiah Morse; and son-in-law, Lester Schmidt.

Online condolences may be left at www.danielsknopp.com.