Rita Morgan

Rita Morgan was born March 31, 1929 to Peter L. and Margaret O'Keefe Beck. She spent her young years in the Deer Lodge valley, graduated High School from Powell High and graduated from Kinman Business College. She and Tom Morgan were married in Deer Lodge in the spring of 1948. Tom was employed by the Montana State Fish and Game, which took them to several towns in Montana: Arlee, Emigrant, Anaconda two times, Lewistown, Big Timber and Blue Water. Rita became an accomplished seamstress and sewed for her family and friends, even making wedding dresses for her daughters and a granddaughter. After Tom retired from the Fish and Game, they made their home in Livingston until they moved to Belgrade in 2002. Rita passed away on Tuesday, May 6th at Billings Deaconess Hospital after a long battle with diabetes. Rita was fiercely proud of her Irish heritage and the fact that she could trace her family to Cork County. She enjoyed being with friends, playing cards and serving on the Senior Citizens in Belgrade. She was a past state president of the Council of Catholic Women of Montana and a lifelong member of the Catholic Church. Rita was preceded in death by her husband of 60 years and their only son, Michael. Survivors include her brother Charlie Beck; sisters Marge Shandy and Helen Hallingstad of Deer Lodge; half-sister Barb (Jim) Weiss of Missoula; her three daughters, Joyce Morgan of Missoula, Mary Ann Randall of Lewistown and Theresa Hobbs of Powell, Wyoming; nine grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. Rosary will be at Our Lady of the Valley of Flowers at 7 P.M. on Tuesday May 13th and funeral services are scheduled for 11 A.M. on Wednesday May 14th. In lieu of flowers, the family requests any memorials go to Camp Make-A-Dream, 727 Camp Mak A Dream Rd, Gold Creek, MT 59733.