Eleanor M. Morse

Eleanor Margaret Allen Morse, age 92, a long-time resident of Concord, died on April 25th at her home. She suffered a stroke in June 2007, and had been in declining health since then.�She was the wife of the late Arnold F. Morse, who died in 1963.

Born in Arlington in 1915, Eleanor was the daughter of Herbert Francis and Margaret Gertrude (White) Allen.�Her family farmed for several generations in both Arlington and Concord.�One of her ancestors fought on the Lexington Green on April 19, 1775.

After graduating from Winchester High School, Mrs. Morse worked for Archer and Company.�This early experience in the world of investments contributed to a life-long interest in the stock market, even into her later years.�After WW II she and her husband lived in Winchester and Longmeadow, MA and outside of Philadelphia, before returning to Massachusetts in 1962.�She worked for many years at the Alcott School, the Middlesex County Extension Service, and lastly for Concord Academy, from where she retired in 1985.�

Eleanor was one of the most up-beat, optimistic people one could have known.�She saw the best in everyone.�Even though she lost her husband, father, and one sister at young ages, she continued to see the positive side of everything.�She loved to travel, taking her family camping when they were young, and participating in many Elderhostel trips in her retirement.�She kept in touch with friends from work and childhood.�She was very independent, enjoying her children who all lived nearby, but leading her own life.�She was active in both the Concord and West Concord Women's Clubs.�She spent a part of each summer on Martha's Vineyard for the past 30 years, and felt that getting to the ocean at least once a year was rejuvenating.�

She is survived by her three children, Robert A. and his wife Doreen A. of Littleton, MA, David A. and his wife Virginia S. of Winchester, and Barbara A. and her husband William R. Neill of Concord, three grandsons, Aaron D. Morse of Melrose, Alden D. Morse, and Connor W. M. Neill, and her cat Missy.�She also had several nieces and nephews, Beverly Emmons and her husband Peter Simon, Scott Emmons and Joe Gutleber, and Keith Emmons, and their children.�She was the sister of the late Edythe A. Bowler and Dorothy A. Emmons.

Eleanor was a devoted cat lover all of her life. Gifts in her name may be made to the Buddy Dog Humane Society, where she had adopted cats, or to the Care Alternatives Hospice of Massachusetts.