Athena M. Morris

Athena was a woman of many passions and Athena’s foremost passion was her family. First came Athena’s two daughters, Emily and Christina. Conversation with Athena usually started with a few brags. She was justifiably very proud of Emily and Christina. Athena was unusually close to her big brother Steve and two older sisters, Roxy and Kathleen with whom she shared history, bridges, nature, crumbled factories and making things. Athena’s Dad and Gram were among her best friends. Athena liked talking to her adopted mother Rhoda who made Athena smile. And then there are the nieces and nephews who are called ‘The Cousins’. After 40 years Athena still actively missed our mom, Mary, who left us way too soon. And then there was Gram. The original traveler and explorer. Gram was the best. Family and friends were important to Athena.

Athena was a true renaissance person, a collector, a historian, a computer specialist, a nature walker, a gardener, and an artist. Her home on Crescent street was known as “The Plant Hospital” and looked like a miniature nursery. It was a truly beautiful Victorian conservatory, without the conservatory. In fact Athena modeled her entire house on the Victorian model with her salon art wall, her rock collection, her vintage record collection, her mid century modern tea set collection, her succulent collection, her book collections.

Athena was widely read. Like her grandmother she could hold her own on any subject and enjoyed especially reading about the lives of great people such as philosophers - Kant a favorite; poets - especially Frost and Robert Lewis Stephenson’s ‘A Childs Garden of Verse’. Athena knew as much about the publishers, printers, and illustrators as she did about the authors.

After Athena retired two years ago, there were few gardens, libraries, museums, antique stores, or bookstores she did not visit, analyze and post about on Facebook. As most of us well know.

Typical Athena attention to detail was that she always checked to see whether the library kept a sampling their original 1800s books. If they did, Athena checked out the books so that they would stay in circulation. If the library didn’t keep their books, Athena lectured the librarians. 

Nature was very important to Athena. Athena combined it with collecting small representative samples of significant geological, horticultural, or historical meaning. Like broken off pieces of the roof of the Hoosac Tunnel. Athena once told Rhoda that it was lucky that glacial erratic’s were too big to collect. Athena liked water, rivers and brooks, the original roads and power source of New England. They were part of Athena. They were the history of Gram’s ancestors. And, Athena sketched all of this. She became very good at drawing the rocks, brooks, factories, and bridges that were, or are, so important to the industry and culture of her area. And we watched her learn and grow in skill on Facebook.

Finally, Athena was also a wonderful communicator. In her many trips to old bridges and non-existent forts Athena did not hesitate to knock on doors of nearby houses to ask for whatever information the residents might have on the next door artifact of history. Every where Athena went she tried to uncover interesting facts and stories about and their relation to the site she had found. And, posted them on Facebook.

We will all miss Athena so much!

Her Funeral Service will be held in the McDonald Funeral Home, 19 Yale Ave., on Monday, November 18th at 11:00am followed by an interment at Lakeside Cemetery in Wakefield.