Wanda Faye Morris

Wanda Faye Morris was born March 5, 1945 in Floydada, Texas to Thomas Earl Traylor and Fannie Mae Roberts Traylor.  She was the sixth of seven children.  After her birth, her family lived in California for a very short period of time, before moving back to Kress, Texas where she began her school years.   She attended her first six years of school in Kress, moving to Olton, Texas between her sixth and seventh grade years.  A year later, her family moved back to Kress.

It was after moving back to Kress, that she met Fred Morris while being a student in Kress high school.  They were married in 1960 and they quickly started their family adding their first-born child Darrell Brent in 1961.  Carla Jan and Barry Wayne quickly followed in 1962 and 1964, respectively.

In the early winter months of 1965, Wanda and Fred moved to Two Buttes, Colorado where they farmed and raised kids.  Wanda was a stay-at-home mother, keeping track of her three stair-step children throughout their school years.  After her children had graduated and left home, Wanda entered the work force when she went to work at the Two Buttes post office where she eventually became postmistress in August of 1991.  She worked in this position until her retirement in February, 2009.

Upon arriving in Two Buttes in 1965, Wanda became an active member of the Two Buttes United Methodist Church and the United Methodist Women.  She faithfully attended church up until the time of her death, it was an important part of her week.  Wanda also volunteered to take on the task of church treasurer for many years.  She also served for a brief time on the Hospice Board of the SE Colorado Hospital.  One of the bigger volunteer jobs Wanda agreed to take on was service to the Two Buttes Cemetery Board, which meant not only tracking the ownership of burial plots, but also physically mowing and caring for the grounds.

Wanda enjoyed yard work and always had a beautiful yard with many flowers and a small vegetable garden.  She found joy in working in her yard and watching the plants grow and bloom.  Wanda and Fred also enjoyed traveling with friends Bone and Carolyn Durham and Ron and Pat Turner.  Many good times and many miles were had with both couples.  It was not uncommon for them to pull out of their driveway, drive to the end of their street and decide at that point which direction to turn on Highway 116 for their road trip!  They enjoyed not only arrival at their destination, but the chance to share time with their friends during the drive to get there.    Many stories have been told and good belly laughs had of those memorable and fun trips!

When Wanda was in the seventh grade, she wrote what was essentially an autobiography of her life up to that point.  Towards the end of this essay, she had a portion entitled, “The Kind of Person I Want To Be”.  She wrote, “of course like almost everyone else, I want to be good.  I want to be kind to everyone and everything.”  She shared she did not want to be famous, she wanted to be helpful and try to make others happy.  Wanda further wrote, “People respect honesty, and so do I.  I want to be honest and truthful to everyone.  I want to look nice and have a neat appearance.  But most of all I want to be a good Christian.  My answer to the kind of person I want to be is a good Christian.”   It can honestly be said that Wanda met all of the criteria she was hoping to be in life.  She was good, she was kind, and she always had a nice and neat appearance.  And no, she did not become famous, but that’s ok because she was respectably honest and made other people happy, and through actively being all of the things she had hoped to be, she exhibited the nature of a good Christian.   One must say she met her goals for the kind of person she wanted to be and that is something to be honored and remembered.

Wanda was preceded in death by her parents, her sisters Francis, Winnie, Alice and Judy; brothers, Junior and Robbie; and her husband, Fred.  She is survived by her son Brent (Penni) of Springfield, Colorado, her daughter Carla (Matthew) of Dighton, Kansas and her son Barry (Leslie) of Springfield, Colorado.  She also leaves behind six grandchildren, Stacey (Dale) Stewart, Tyson (Alexandrea) Piper, John Piper, Chandra (Sam) Herrin, Levi Morris and Crystal Hampton and four great-grandchildren Andra, Dylon, Ollie and Ethan, along with several nieces and nephews.