December 24, 1922 – September 26, 2016
Claudia Morrison, age 93, passed away peacefully on September 26, 2016 at Providence Hospital in Everett, WA with family at her side. Claudia was born in Panama on December 24, 1922. In 1946, she immigrated to the United States, living in San Diego, CA with her beloved aunt and uncle, Harold and Natividad “Tia Nati” (Aguila Otero) Dresser, proudly becoming a citizen in 1952. Later, as the wife of a Navy man, she travelled across the United States with her husband, Donald Edmund Morrison, whom she married in 1950. Don and Claudia eventually settled in Blaine, WA where they lived until Don’s death in 2008. Claudia then moved to Arlington, WA and spent the remaining years of her life joyfully living with her son Timm and daughter-in-law Corrie, and their family.
Claudia’s passions in life have always been her love of God, her family and watching sports. She was an active volunteer at St. Anne’s Catholic Church in Blaine for over forty years. To Claudia, St. Anne’s was her responsibility and she worked tirelessly with a loving team of parishioners to make St. Anne’s a wonderful house of worship. She trained altar servers, cleaned the church, drove to Ferndale each weekend to pick up doughnuts for the coffee social after Mass, served as an altar server, and much more. She made countless lifelong friendships at St. Anne’s and cherished every one of them. It was these friendships and her love of God and family that gave her peace through her last days. However, Claudia’s departure was unforgivably hastened by the late season collapse of the Seattle Mariners. Evidently, witnessing yet another year without her beloved Mariners making the playoffs was more than she could bear.
Claudia’s 3 children and their families were her priority in life. She would light up at the sight of her children and grandchildren and she would instantly drop whatever she was doing to help them out. Claudia’s joy with her family was heightened in December, 2015 with the birth of her first great-grandchild, Van, given to her by granddaughter Crystal. Van brightened her life and brought a smile to her face every day. It was a household joke that Van got more kisses from Claudia in 8 months of life than all 3 of her children received in a combined 176 years! One of Claudia’s commitments to her family was shown in her cooking. Her cooking talents are renown and a gathering of her grandchildren will nearly always include comments about her fried chicken and apple pie, followed by a pause and blissful looks. Church bake sales included a beeline to her area as people jockeyed for position to get one of her lemon meringue pies before they were all gone.
Claudia is survived by her children Terry Morrison of Blaine, Jeanne (Alan) Park of Edmonds, and Timm (Corrie) Morrison of Arlington, her grandchildren Sommar of Blaine, Serena and Adam of Edmonds, Crystal, Tyler and Bailey of Arlington, her great-grandson Van also of Arlington, and Catherine of Tennessee who was just like a grandchild to Claudia. She is predeceased by her loving husband of 58 years Don, and grandson Alex. Claudia was the oldest of seven children and is survived by her brothers Ismael (Ana) Aguila and Franklin Aguila and sisters Dolores Blas and Cita (Jack) Burns. She is predeceased by her brother Ananias “Nano” Aguila, sister Maria Isabel Aguila, parents Juan Bautista Aguila Duarte and Maria del Socorro Aguila Castillo, Tia Nati and Uncle Harold Dresser, sister in-law Yolanda Aguila and brother in-law Angel Blas. Claudia’s love of her family extended to Don’s family also. Her Morrison nieces and nephews were as equally loved as her Aguila nieces and nephews. She is survived by nieces and nephews Cecelia and Graciela, Angelica (Jorge), Angel (Maricela), Lorena, Sandra, Charo (Gary), Einar (Frances), Liza (Michael), John (Laurie), Jeff, Miriam, Bert (Darlene), Cathy (Dick), Bob (Glenda), Brian, David (Sylvia), Keith (Lindsey), Karen (Steve), Neil, and many grand-nieces and nephews.
Claudia is also survived by many loving friends from Blaine. There are too many to list but you all know who you are and know you had a special place in her heart. So thank you to Evelyn, Bill and Celine, Marion, Izabelle, Jerry and Grace, Martin and Hilda, Jan, Sue, Eileen and countless others that may have been unintentionally omitted. Claudia loved each and every one of you. Special thanks to Father Tim Sauer of Arlington Immaculate Conception and formerly of Blaine St. Anne, who provided spiritual support and personal friendship to Claudia for many years. As she became unable to attend mass in person, Father Tim would come to her home to visit, pray and offer communion. Father Tim also visited Claudia during her final days to pray and administer the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, ushering Claudia to her rightful place in Heaven.
Thank you to Amber, mom’s personal caregiver for the last 2 years. Amber was the recipient of many punchlines and took every one of them with great joy and love. Amber could give it as well as take it, and they forged a bond that will last forever. Claudia grew to love Amber and Amber loved her. Amber took care of mom’s needs each day and sometimes on weekends. Family care of Claudia could not have been possible without the help and support of Amber, and her family is eternally grateful.
Thank you to Rose, Janet and the staff at QuilCeda Adult Family Home in Marysville who provided kind, loving and dignified care to Claudia for the last 4 months of her life. Claudia had a sarcastic wit who never met anyone she wouldn’t give a hard time to, and the team at QuilCeda was no exception. If Rose would trip Claudia would ask her if she was drunk. When Janet popped her head into the bathroom to check on Claudia’s shower and ask how she was, Claudia would respond “I’m wet”. The team would tease her right back; she brought life into QuilCeda and truly thought of each person as her friend.
At Claudia’s request (demand, firm direction……), no funeral service will be held. In her words, “I don’t want anyone to make a fuss about me.” An announcement will be made at St. Anne’s Catholic Church, Blaine, that the regularly schedule Wednesday morning Mass will be a Memorial Mass in her honor. A memorial mass in Claudia’s honor will also be held in Arlington in the coming weeks. Claudia will be buried with her husband, Don, at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, MO.
