Gail Morris

Gail Lynn Nelson Morris, 67, died 27th of October 2016 at her home in Rogers, Ark. Her funeral service will be held on Tuesday, November 1 at Edwards Funeral Home in Fort Smith followed by her internment at Oak Cemetery, in Fort Smith. Reception for family and friends will be Oct. 31 from 5-7 p.m. at Edwards Funeral Home. Gail was born on March 1, 1949 in Fort Smith, Ark., to Glenn Butler Nelson and Helen Clyma Nelson. She graduated from Southside High class of 1967. She was a graduate of the University of Kansas with a degree in fine arts. Gail painted throughout her life, and her professional career was in Christian ministry with Campus Crusade for Christ. She also did missionary work in Eastern Europe with World Harvest Mission and was a devoted mother. She married Paul Kenneth Thorson in 1970 and they raised three sons. She married Jewel Roy Morris in May 2012 and moved to Rogers, Ark., where she taught painting, went on short term mission trips to Central America and was actively involved with her local arts community and church. Gail was a bright light in the world and she will be sorely missed. She is survived by her husband, Jewel Roy Morris of Rogers, Ark., her father Glenn Butler Nelson and his wife Bridget Nelson and her step-daughter Pam and Bruce Pyland of Fort Smith, her sisters Glenda Kraus and her husband Robert of Fort Smith, Minta Jane Bowers and David Bowers and their son Grant Bowers of Fort Smith as well as her sons Jonathan Thorson and his wife Kimberly and their children Enid, Mara and Luke of New York, N.Y., Martin Thorson and his wife Tanya and their sons Andrew and Max of Baltimore, Md., and Nathaniel Thorson of Lake Tahoe, Calif. Her stepson is Roy Jerome Morris and his wife Abby Morris, of Laguna Nigel, Calif., and his daughter Kelli Jane Cronk and her husband Ryan and their three children of Indianapolis, Ind., and Megan Janes and her husband Rob and their three children of Little Rock, Ark.