In Memory

Twinkle Ann Morton VIEW PROFILE

Twinkle Ann Morton

              Twinkle Ann Morton

                                              April 3, 1948 – October 20, 2019

(Following is an edited version of the obit Twinkle herself composed. It was supplied to us by her daughter Kaseja. For the full original version, see Twinkle’s Facebook page, Oct 27.)

 

I am now and have always been a Taoist.  I believe we are eternal and that the afterlife is just another part of life itself; I was of the Tao (the way of the natural order of the universe) when I was alive and remain in the Tao after death.

One of the benefits of preparing for death is the ability to write my own obituary and go on living a full, happy life and not burden my loved ones… I have done that.

I was born in Billings, MT on April 3, 1948 to the best parents I could imagine - Roy Warren Morton and Mary Ann [Bollman] Morton.  I graduated from Billings Senior High School in 1966, and from Montana State University in Billings in 1971. After teaching for five years, I moved to the Eugene, OR area where I remained until the time of my death.

I graduated from the University of Oregon with a Master’s in Education in 1978, and found my lifelong position as the Director of Educational Services for Student Athletes until I retired in 2015.

Many thanks to my teachers along the way who helped me see the value of learning and reading.  Thanks also to my students who I now call friends and family. Many more thanks to my wonderful, close friends: Ann Menge, Marilyn Mangus, and Joe O’Brien.  In 1998 I moved with my partner, Joan Mariner, to a 2+ acre plot of mud that we lovingly turned into our garden-like home.  Here, I had the pleasure of meeting and adding our close friends Margie Hannah and Mark Ratzlaff.

I professionally met Joan Mariner, a writing teacher at the UO, in 1995.  After years of getting to know each other through our work with students and then personally, we became lifelong partners in 1997.  She is a gift in herself, AND she blessed me with four children - Lynn Synclair, Tim Nebergall, Chaz Dutoit, and Kaseja Wilder.  I like to espouse that I have great kids and no stretch marks!

Many of my family have preceded my moving on from this plane. My cousins Nina Marie [Bollman] Johnson and Bevin, Bill Bollman, Dennis Paronto, Deb [Paronto] Lyons and Tom, and Dee Loos and Dave remain, as does my sister from another mother Stella Giacomazzi. May you all live long and prosper.

I have no desire for any service.  Nothing is required by me other than that anyone reading this have hope and love in your lives.  If you get together for any reason for me, please laugh and enjoy each other as I have through all my wonderous years.

Twinkle asked that you be told that she lived a happy, full life until complications of the treatment for Stage IV melanoma ended her life on October 20, 2019. She had a good death; she died peacefully, on her own terms and in the circle of her loved ones. She would like you to go forward living your life to the fullest; don’t forget to express your love to each other every day.

If you wish to make a contribution, please make a donation in Twinkle Ann Morton’s name to Greenhill Humane Society in Eugene (https://www.green-hill.org/), or the Yellowstone Foundation (https://www.yellowstonenationalpark.com/yellowstoneparkfoundation.htm).

A memorial service will tentatively occur in March, 2020. If you would like to be notified when the date is set, please reach out to Twinkle’s daughters: Lynn Synclair, on Facebook; or Kaseja Wilder at kaseja.wilder@gmail.com or call her at 541-844-5038.



 
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11/04/19 03:25 AM #1    

Thomas (Tom) Kirk

(The following was posted to Facebook by one of Twinkle's former students.)

"The Lessons of Death"

We all die, no one is ever happy to lose a loved one... Even though everyone dies and it's inevitable... Everyone dies, but not everyone truly lives.

I myself choose to take such moments as reminders that we only have this one life here in this form. It reminds me that on my death bed I want to smile as my life passes before me; regardless of the cause of my end. It reminds me that the saddest thing, ever, is to be in that moment wishing you'd done this, said that, tried that thing or kissed or have just been nicer to that person.

Death reminds me that what's truly important in life is to be on a continuous quest for personal growth. To dive into the core of this world like a buffet and to sample as much of it as we can. To amass experiences, enlightenment and wisdom, true wealth, not sparkling things. Death reminds me that I am alive and still have the choice to make my name and life meaningful and remembered as a person that truly lived his life to the fullest. Death reminds me that I want my life to be worthy of an epic poem; a lost art that immortalizes so many heroes of old.

Twinkle lived a life where she touched and helped shape the minds of thousands of young people, including myself. She offered guidance, academically and personal, to so many of us as well. She literally has shaped the futures of so many of us, that in a sense she helped shape the future of the world. Few people have as much of an effect on as many people as Twinkle has. She truly lived a "good life" and today, on the day of her passing from this world, I salute and thank her. I only hope I'm so privileged to live such a meaningful life at my end.

In that spirit, I celebrate the passing of people from this world to the next, as one would a graduation. She will be missed, by many, in this "school of life " in the "classroom of the earth", may she fare well in his next school!

Ray Livingston
10-21-19
🌬❤🕊✨✨✨

RIP T.A.M.                                                        

                                                           

 

 


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