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Frances E. Morrisey
Frances (“Frannie”) Earle Gensler Morrisey died on September 14 at the Hampton Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton, surrounded by her children. She was 87.
Born in Philadelphia in 1924 to Florence Earle Johnson and Stanley Bertram Gensler, she spent her childhood summers at her maternal grandmother’s lakefront home, “Agawam,” on South Main Street in Southampton. At a young age she showed a great talent for the game of tennis and eventually followed in her mother’s footsteps by winning singles and doubles championships many times at the Meadow Club in Southampton and the Bath and Tennis Club in Palm Beach, Florida. In the 1960s, she was elected as one of the first female governors of the Meadow Club.
In 1946, she married Yale graduate and Naval Lieutenant John Lyon Morrisey. They settled in New York City for several years, then moved back to Palm Beach for winter months, but never missed a summer in Southampton.
In the early 1960s, Mrs. Morrisey’s friend Lilly Pulitzer asked her to manage both the Palm Beach and Southampton stores of her fledgling dress business. Those early fun years of the Lilly Shop were a highlight of her life, her daughters said, noting that she had an eye for design as well and created several of the patterns for the Lilly fabrics.
Mrs. Morrisey is survived by her children, John Lyon Morrisey Jr., Lucinda Earle Morrisey and Florence Earle Morrisey; and two grandchildren, Rafe and Barrett Worthington. She is also survived by her goddaughter, Diane Findlay Paty of Palm Beach.
Services will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the Dominican Sisters, 103-6 West Montauk Highway, Hampton Bays, NY 11946 or St. Andrew’s Dune Church, PO Box 1245, Southampton, NY 11969 would be appreciated by the family.
on Sep 19, 2011