Ethel Jeanne Morrow Gillette
November 27, 1921 ~ February 2, 2011
MONTROSE — Ethel Jeanne Morrow Gillette, age 89, of Montrose, Colo., passed away on Feb. 2, 2011. She was born to Charles Henry Morrow and Myrne Sarah Law on Nov. 27, 1921. She graduated from high school in Oelwein, Iowa, and attended Coe College, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She then was hired by the FBI to work in Washington, D.C. as one of J. Edgar Hoover’s personal secretaries. On May 7, 1944, she married Roman Adolph Gillette, then a captain in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in the Washington Cathedral in Washington D.C. They were married for 47 years and had three children: Melody, Richard and William. Ethel received her B.A. and teaching certificate from Upper Iowa University, in Fayette, Iowa, in 1958, and her M.A. from Western State College, in Gunnison, Colo. in 1968. While raising her family, Ethel taught school in Iowa, Minnesota and Montrose, Colo. She wrote articles that were published in the Fayette paper, the Minneapolis Star and Tribune, the Atlantic Weekly, the Country Journal, Frontier Times, Empire Magazine in the Denver Post and Passage. She wrote a column, “The Distaff Side,” for the newspaper in Gillette, Wyo. for many years and also was the author of a history of the town of Idaho Springs, Colo. Topics included historic articles recording the plight of the Indians in Georgia, which ended with their journey along The Trail of Tears.
Her husband Roman, project superintendent for Morrow Point Dam, moved to the Montrose area in 1962, and Ethel and the family joined him in Montrose in 1964. While teaching in Montrose, Ethel initiated funding for audio visual equipment for Montrose High School and created a student paperback library at the high school using her own funds. Ethel also was active in providing entertainment to young people with puppet shows, which she presented on the Eastern Slope and in Denver, as well as in Montrose.
Ethel is survived by her son, Richard Gillette; daughter, Melody Gillette; grandchildren, Kory Bailey, Natalie Jones, Heather Marie Gillette, Aaron Roman Gillette and James Robert Gillette; great-grandchildren, John Gillette, Brittney Janosh, Mija Gillette, Gavin Gillette, Kade Jones, Jacey Jones; and great-great-grandchild, Matthew Bruchett. She was preceded in death by her husband, Roman, in 1991. Also deceased are her parents, two brothers, Donald and Robert Morrow, son William Gillette, granddaughters, Kareena Gillette and Johanna Gillette, and great-grandson, Matthew Janosh.
A memorial service will be at 10 a.m. Monday, Feb. 7, 2011 at Crippin Funeral Home, 802 E. Main St. in Montrose, with Rev. Mark Marston conducting services. Viewing will be on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011, beginning at 4 p.m. Arrangements are under the direction of Crippin Funeral Home; (970) 249-2121.
