Our beloved Crystal Ailene Cantrell Morris, fell asleep in the Lord on Thursday, February 19th, 2015. Crystal was born to Allene Cantrell and Raymond Cantrell on Christmas morning, December 25, 1951, in her home town of Detroit, Michigan.
Crystal was said to be the most beautiful Christmas present her mother has ever received. She was a precocious child and a talented student in Berean SDA Elementary School at City Temple SDA Church, but attended the young congregation at Burns Avenue SDA Church. High School was attended at Adelphian Academy in Holly, Michigan. In addition to her classes in high school, she was an Assistant Dean and a Teacher’s Assistant. Crystal graduated with honors and chose to pursue higher education at Andrews University, studying to fulfill her lifelong desire of becoming a nurse. Before graduating, she was afforded the opportunity of being a student Medical Missionary in an Adventist Clinic in Haiti. She was so proficient with day to day operations that she was entrusted with the responsibility of operating the clinic while the regular nursing staff was allowed to take a well needed vacation and visit their home country. While studying at Andrews, she met a developing minister by the name of Jack Arthur Morris.
Despite many floundering suitors, this particular individual piqued her interest so much that she maintained a relationship in spite of her arduous academic pursuits. She graduated in 1973, passed her state boards to be a registered nurse and without further ado; she was wed one month later to this most ardent of suitors, Pastor Jack Morris, in her home church with Pastor T. Marshall Kelly, officiating. The Southwest Region Conference of SDA selected this lovely young couple to pastor in the Houston, Texas area. In Houston, Crystal and Jack were blessed with their first child, Jack Arthur Morris, II, in 1975.
After moving to Hammond, Louisiana their family added a gorgeous baby girl named Marissa Alaine Morris in 1979, and the family was completed by the birth of John Adam Morris, in 1982. She complimented his ministry in many ways and in various locations both domestic and abroad. She was happy being his wife, a mother and a nurse. Congregations around the globe have been blessed by their ministry. She made friends wherever she went and she was always a gracious host and a gregarious first lady. We will miss her dearly and cling to the blessed hope of the Resurrection.
Crystal Ailene Cantrell Morris leaves to cherish her memories, her children: Jack, Marissa, and John; her mother, Allene Cantrell; her father and his wife, Raymond and Annetta Cantrell; her brother and sister-in-law, Raymond and Michelle Cantrell, two sisters, Samone and Shelly Cantrell; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, family and friends.
Funeral Services for Crystal Ailene Cantrell Morris will be held on Sunday, March 1, 3:00 p.m. at New Haven Seventh Day Adventist, 8714 Antioch, Overland Park, Kansas. Internment, Monday, Twelve Gates Cemetery.