Charlotte Fay Morris, 96

Charlotte Fay (Wood) Morris, of Bonners Ferry, Idaho, formerly of Sandpoint, Idaho, and Chesterton, Ind., passed away May 8, 2023, at the age of 96 at the Boundary County Community Restorium.

Fay was born on May 17, 1926, to Merritt and Hester Wood of Gary, Ind. She spent her childhood there where she attended Horace Mann High School. Fay was an active member of the drama club, the debate team, and a member of the cheerleader squad. Subsequently, she lived in Porter, Ind., at the Bailly Homestead until her marriage to William Morris.

Upon graduation in 1944, Fay went to work at Youngstown Steel in East Chicago, Ind., for the duration of the World War II war effort. She was awarded the Army Commanders Award for Civilian Service for her homefront war effort work.

On June 20, 1946, Fay married William F. (Bill) Morris, of Alliance, Ohio, following his discharge from the U.S. Army Air Corps. The ceremony took place at the Augsburg Lutheran Church in Porter, Ind. The happy couple parented and raised four children and they continued to live in the Chesterton, Ind., area for the next three decades where they were active with many friends and involved in local affairs.

During that period, she worked at the Pines Ski Area as an instructor, helping to set up the ski school there.

Over the years, Fay and Bill traveled to Idaho many times for camping, hiking and outdoor adventures of all sorts. Finally in 1977, they moved to the Sandpoint area. Many reading this may remember their A-frame overlooking Lake Pend Oreille, where they camped, sailed, fished, hiked and skied. Fay and Bill became fixtures in Sandpoint where they worked for years at Foster’s Crossing.

In 1992, they moved again, but not far, to their cabin in the woods north of Bonners Ferry along Meadow Creek near the Moyie River, once more making many friends in the local community and working as ski instructors at the Schweitzer Mountain ski area. Fay was also active in local politics and was elected twice as a delegate to the Idaho Democratic Party state convention where she was introduced as “the heart and soul of the Idaho Democratic Party.”

Fay and Bill were also avid supporters of the Pearl Theater in Bonners Ferry, as well as the library and other local institutions and organizations. Both Fay and Bill were poets and penned many verses.

Fay was preceded in death in 2018 by her husband, William F. Morris; her parents, Merritt and Hester Wood; and her brothers, Merritt M. (Mason) Wood and James Wood. Fay is survived by her four children, Jeanette Morris (Gene Freott), Christopher Morris (Sheryl Morris), Eve Magyar (William Critz) and Andrew Morris (Annika Morris); grandchildren Eric Morris (Karla Morris) and Megan Dicken (Sean Dicken); and two great-grandchildren, Aldon and Amelia Morris; and many nieces and nephews.

Fay was loved by all who knew her.

We all wish to extend our gratitude and thanks to the Boundary County Community Restorium staff, the staff at Bonners Ferry Funeral Home, and all her many friends and associates who graced her life for the better part of a century. She loved you all.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the American Diabetes Association. To leave a message or memory for the family, go to www.bonnersferryfuneralhome.com. Bonners Ferry Funeral Home is caring for the family.