Sallie J. Morris' Obituary
Sallie J. (Wood) Jones Morris departed this life on December 1, 2010 at home in Ft. Washington, MD. She was born on April 28, 1913 to the late William H. Banks and Mary E. (Wood) Coleman in Albemarle County, VA. At a young age, she joined and attended the Piedmont Baptist Church in Yancy Mills, VA.
As a little girl, before child labor laws, she worked as a cook and housekeeper at Seven Oaks outside of Crozet, VA, which was a plantation during slavery. Her great grandmother was a slave. There are cottages on the plantation named “Wood Cottage” for her late grandfather John E. Wood and “Coleman Cottage” for her Stepfather, Frank Coleman, her Mother Mary Coleman and Sallie. The Department of the Interior has since taken over this plantation as a historical site and the names are probably still on the cottages.
In the mid-thirties, Frank, Mary and Sallie moved to Leesburg. VA. They found employment together working for the Brown Family at “Rockland.” They immediately joined the Providence Baptist Church under the leadership of the late Reverend Francis L. Pree. Sallie had a beautiful voice and sang in the Senior Choir for many years. In later years, she was appointed as a Deaconess.
In 1936, Sallie met and married the late Robert L. Jones of Leesburg. From this union came two daughters, Sonja E. Jones Thomas (deceased) and Wilma Jones Lincoln Cartwright.
In early 1956, Sallie visited her father in Philadelphia, PA, where she was overwhelmed to meet her siblings, Charles, James, John, Gertrude, Laura and Helen Banks as well as her Stepmother Sarah Banks. They became true siblings because of the love they shared for each other down through the years.
In 1958, Sallie and her daughter Wilma moved to Washington, DC. She worked for Dr. Robert Morse and family in Georgetown. She quickly became a member of the family and traveled to Nova Scotia, Canada, spending an entire summer with them in 1960. Dr. Morse’s oldest daughter, Susan Morse, traveled to see Sallie often and remains a devoted friend and confidant to the entire family.
In January 1961, her first granddaughter, Shelby J. Jones was born. In 1962, her only grandson, Kelvin C. Jones (deceased) was born. In 1979, her second granddaughter, Theddeus Marcial (Marcie) Cartwright was born.
In 1978, she married the late Rev. John E. Morris (who was the Pastor of Providence Baptist Church). They resided in Washington, DC. Upon Rev. Morris’s retirement as Pastor, she joined the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Washington, DC under the leadership of Rev. H. Beecher Hicks, where Rev. Morris was a son of the Church. She lived in Washington until his death in 1989.
In 1990, she moved to Ft. Washington, MD with her daughter and grandchildren. She attended and joined the Ebenezer A.M.E. Church on Mother’s Day 1991, under the leadership of the Reverends Grainger and Jo Ann Browning. She became of member of the “Jewel’s” senior organization of the Church.
After the death of her first daughter, Sonja, in 2006, she began to grow weary and weak. It was then that her daughter Wilma took her back to her home Church in Leesburg on Palm Sunday 2007. She was overwhelmed with the play that the Youth Department presented that Sunday and when the doors of the church were opened, she said, “I want to come home.”
She joined the H. L. Harris Chapter #77 Order of the Eastern Star in Leesburg, VA in 1941 and remained a member until the time of her death.
We thank God for his mercy and his grace. He promised us 3 score and 10. Sallie was blessed to celebrate 4 score and 17 – even after being a two-time breast cancer survivor. She was a humble, but strong Christian woman who truly loved the Lord, her family, her church and everybody she met.
She leaves to cherish her memory, a loving daughter, Wilma Jones Lincoln Cartwright and granddaughter Shelby J. Jones of Ft. Washington, MD; a granddaughter, Theddeus Marcial (Marcie) Cartwright Howard (Nicholas) and one great grandson, Devonne Howard of Houston, Texas; four aunts, Isabelle Wood of Leesburg, VA; Naomi Kelly of Alexandria, VA; Dorothy Wood of Springfield, Missouri and Cornelia Wood of Crozet, VA; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. She was everybody’s “Mother Sallie”.
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