Obituary: Florence Morris

Miss Florence Morris,
Former teacher, Dies

Miss Florence Morris, 80, of 1005 Haywood Dr., a Central High School teacher for 39 years, died Sunday night (Feb. 18, 1973) in a Madison hospital after an illness.

Miss Morris was a well-known Madison tacher who maintained friendships with many of her former pupils throughout her life.

Born at Randolph, we was a graduate of Carroll College. She taught at Amherst for two years, at Hayward for one, and at Eau Claire for one year.

Miss Morris tauhgt advanced and college algebra in high school before most high schools featured higher mathematics.

Also a geometry teacher, she was reported to have applied a basic geometry principle to her pupils -- the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

Miss Morris told her pupils the straight line applied to personal relations between pupils, between pupils and teachers, and between pupils and the life ahead.

A sports fan, she was known as a loyal supporter of the school football and basketball teams, traveling frequently outside Madison to watch the games.

The orange and black "M" emblem, reserved for athletes, was presented to a teacher only once -- to Miss Morris in 1957.

When she retired in 1958, she had been describd as a firm disciplinarian, but one who was always fair. Her students were said to have called her "Flossie," but only behind her back.

Golf was one of Miss Morris' hobbies. A running joke at the school was that her golf score for 18 holes looked like the national debt.

She was an advisor for many years to the Central High School Student Council and for 20 years to the Wisconsin Assn. of Student Councils.

Miss Morris was also an active member of the Wisconsin Gymanfa Ganu, which holds traditional Welsh singing festivals throughout the state.

More than 200 former pupils, teachers and friends attended her retirement reception in 1958.

In September, 1972, more than 100 persons greeted Miss Morris on her 80th birthday at a surprise birthday at her apartment.

The list of her students included names of well-known Madisonians, among them former Police Chief Wilbur H. Emery, former Wisconsin State Journal sportswriter Monte McCormick, and Wisconsin State Journal Publisher J. Martin Wolman.

There are no immediate survivors.

Funeral arrangements are pending at the Frautschi Funeral Home, 3610 Speedway Rd.

Note: The above was originally published in the Obituaries section of the Wisconsin State Journal on February 19, 1973. At this time, obituaries were still "news stories," written by newspaper staff, not families. Given the length of the tribute and the amount of detail it includes, it is likely that some of her former pupils may have been involved in writing this unsigned "news story."



This tribute (below) Florence Morris and Benjamin Ashman, both of who retired in 1958, appeared in the 1957 Tychoberahn.

Obituary: Benjamin H. Ashman

MADISON - Benjamin H. Ashman, age 90, of 2107 Waunona Way, died on Thursday, Jnauary 20, 1983, at a Madison hospital. Born on March 3, 1892, in Phillipsburg, Pennsylvania, he was married to the former Mildred Duncan on August 15, 1915. Mr. Ashman taught at the former Cental High School in Madison for thirty-eight years and spent his retirement with his avocation, gardening. Survivors are two daughters, Marian Ashman and Margaret Huff, both of Madison; two sons, Thomas of Madison and Stephen of Mount Horeb; four grandchildren, Jonathan Wilde of Belleville, Phoebe Swenson of Mesa, Arizona, Laurie Hamilton of Wallingford, Connecticut and Connie Weiss of Madison; a great granddaughter; and several nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife, Mildred in 1975; a daughter, Helen Wilde in 1966; a brother, Richard in 1969; and just recently, a sister-in-law, Erma Duncan. Memorial services will be ehld at the FIRST UNITARIAN MEETING HOUSE AT 900 University Bay Drive at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 19, with the Reverend Max Gaebler officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to either the University of Wisconsin Foundation for the Arboretum at 1207 Seminole Highway, Madison 53711 or the Wisconsin Phenological Society at 1922 University Avenue, Madison 53705. The CRESS FUNERAL HOME is in charge of arrangements.

Originally published in the Wisconsin State Journal on January 21, 1983

Note: What is phenology? According to the Wisconsin Phenological Society Manual (2003), "Phenology is an interdisciplinary branch of ecology. Its purpose is to record the general development of plants and animals as affected by climate and weather at a certain geographical location." Use the links to learn more about the organization and its objectives.

The article below was originally published in The Capital Times on July 23, 1958. It was written by reporter Frank Custer, a Central alumnus (Class of 1931), who probably was one of Ashman's pupils.

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This tribute (below) to Benjamin Ashman and Florence Morris, both of who retired in 1958, appeared in the 1957 Tychoberahn.