Ethel Morrison
Ethel M. Morrison, of Lawrence, died Nov. 8 at home. She was 85.
Born in Lawrence, she was a lifelong resident. She was formerly employed in the accounting department of Trenton Banking and was also the former manager of the Et Cetera store in the Lawrenceville Shopping Center.
Mrs. Morrison was a former member of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church and was currently a member of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Pennington.
Daughter of the late George and Ethel Zimmer, she is survived by her husband, Charles F. Morrison and their daughter, Edna Jane Horan, also of Lawrence and a special nephew, Linton Reed and his wife Joyce, also of Lawrence.
Burial Office was offered on Tuesday. Burial followed in the Greenwood Cemetery, Hamilton.
Memorial contributions may be made to St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, 300 South Main Street, Pennington, NJ 08534.
Lewis Haggins Sr.
Lewis Haggins Sr. died Nov. 7 at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Pennsylvania. He was 79.
Born in Charlotte, N.C., he was a resident of Lawrence for 48 years.
Mr. Haggins was educated at the Witherspoon School for the Colored in Princeton and was a graduate of John Jay High School Cleveland, Ohio, and the Bordentown Manual Training Industrial School, Bordentown.
He retired from the New Jersey Department of Corrections. He was an U.S. Navy veteran serving from 1947 to 1949, and a U.S. Army veteran serving from 1951 to 1953.
Mr. Haggins was a member of Aaron Lodge No. 9 F. & A.M., Princeton, and a member of First Baptist Church of Princeton where he served as a trustee, and president of the Usher Board. He excelled in football, baseball, basketball and track while in high school. Later in his adult life he became an avid golfer and played on several area baseball teams.
Mr. Haggins was preceded in death by his parents Mary Ann and Fewell “Pete” Haggins, a sister, Mable, and brothers Hazlee, Oliver and Eugene Haggins and a son, Lewis Haggins Jr. Survived by his wife of 52 years, Gerry; a daughter, Lois (Johnathan) Funderburg Jr.; a son, Brock; two grandchildren, Johnathan III “Jay”, and Lauren Funderburg; several nieces, nephews, cousins and many friends.
Funeral service was Tuesday. Interment was in Franklin Memorial Park, North Brunswick.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Homeless Ministry of First Baptist Church, John St. and Paul Robeson Place, Princeton, NJ 08540.
Gertrude Phoenix
Gertrude E. Phoenix, died Nov. 10 at home. She was 96.
Known as “Me Mere” to her grandchildren and their friends, Mrs. Phoenix was born in St. Pascal, PQ, Canada in 1910 and later moved to Southbridge, Mass. where she lived for 70 years. In 1992, after the death of her husband, she moved to Lawrence to reside with her daughter and son-in-law.
Mrs. Phoenix was a member of Notre Dame Catholic Church, in Southbridge, and an active supporter of the former Notre Dame School. She also was a member of St. Ann’s Catholic Church, in Lawrence. She and her late husband were known for their gardens and landscaping.
Daughter of the late Maxim and Georgianna Beaupre; wife of 56 years to the late Adrian Phoenix; sister of the late Marie de Villers, Blanche Belanger, Alice Beaupre, Rose Tessier, Eugene Beaupre, Jeanne Tetreault and Lorenzo “Ketch” Beaupre; she is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Diane and James G. Duffy Sr., of Lawrence; two sisters, Lucienne Paradis, of Manchester, N.H. and Juliette Horr, of Waterford, Conn.; grandchildren Lynn Maloney, of Chevy Chase, Md., James Duffy Jr., of Princeton, Michael Duffy, of Lawrence, and Kathryn Bavuso, of Rumson; six great grandchildren; several nieces and nephews; and many good friends.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 9 a.m. on Nov. 19 at St. Ann’s Church, 1253 Lawrence Road. Visitation will be 8:30 a.m. preceding the Mass. Burial will be at the Lawrenceville Cemetery immediately following.
Memorial contributions may be made to VNA Hospice, 171 Jersey Street, Suite 201, Trenton, NJ 08611 or to the Saint Ann’s Church Faith Development Center, 1253 Lawrence Road, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648.
Doris Murro
Doris Mae Murro died Sunday at St. Francis Medical Center of natural causes. She was 76.
Born in Trenton, Mrs. Murro was a longtime area resident and had resided in Lawrence for 15 years. She was a homemaker who enjoyed watching television.
She is survived by her husband of 41 years, Ralph Murro; two stepchildren; a brother, Richard Petro; and a sister, Jean Kandrac.
Cremation services were private.
Thomas Smith
WEST WINDSOR — Thomas W. Smith died on Nov. 7 in Fayetteville, N.C. He was 25.
Born in Livingston, he had been a resident of West Windsor before joining the Army in 2003.
He was a specialist in Company D, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, N.C., and had served two tours of duty in Afghanistan.
He enjoyed playing golf, spending time with his son and running marathons.
Grandson of the late Thomas P. Sullivan and Warren W. Smith, he is survived by his grandmothers, Dorothy Sullivan of Chatham and Betty Smith of Cranford; mother Lori Sullivan of Lawrence; father Jeffrey O. Smith and step-mother Donna of Morris Plains; son Jason of Fayetteville, N.C.; sisters Stephanie Smith of Jersey City and Alexis Smith of Lawrence; brother Owen Smith of Lawrence; and stepsister Emily Ferrara of Morris Plains.
Private funeral services will be held at the funeral home.
Visiting hours are 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. today at the Blackwell Memorial Home, 21 N. Main St., Pennington.
Interment will be 12:30 p.m. Friday in Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Arneytown.
Memorial contributions may be made to SHIP, The Samaritan Homeless Interim Program, 87 E. High Street, Somerville, NJ 08876, www.ship908.com.
Virginia Rainier
PITMAN — Virginia Boyle Rainier, 89, formerly of Lawrence and Hamilton, died Nov. 7 in Pitman Manor in Pitman. She was 89.
Born in Trenton, she was raised in Lawrence Township and then resided most of her life in Hamilton before moving to Pitman seven years ago.
She was a former member of the First United Methodist Church of New Jersey.
Daughter of the late C. Lee Boyle and Katherine Boyle, sister of the late Robert N. Boyle and wife of the late G. Donald Rainier, she is survived by two sons and daughters-in-law, Larry and Lorraine Rainier and George D. and Betty Rainier; six grandchildren; and 15 great grand children. She is also survived by a brother and two sisters-in-law, C. Lee Boyle Jr. and his wife Ruth, and Alice Boyle.
A graveside service was held on Monday, in Greenwood Cemetery in Hamilton. There was no calling hours.
