Mary Lee (Morgan) Tipton

April 20, 1926 - June 09, 2009

Mary Lee (Morgan) Tipton Obituary Entered into rest on Tuesday, June 9, 2009. Graveside services were held at Fairmont Memorial Park in Spokane, Washington, on June 13, 2009. After the service, family and friends joined her children at her home in Spokane to celebrate her life. Mary Lee Francis was born on April 20, 1926, in Billings, Montana, where she graduated from Billings Senior High in 1944. Mary Lee married Donald A. Morgan on October 23, 1945. They had three children, owned Morgan Shoe Repair on Broadwater in Billings, and moved to Spokane in 1962. A resident of Spokane for the last 47 years, Mary Lee worked at Holy Family Hospital and later Group Health until her retirement in 1991. Mary Lee and Donald enjoyed entertaining friends, especially at their weekend home near Davis Lake, Washington. Those friends included former Billings residents: the late Floyd Crow, Dorothy Baker Crow, the late Gloria Butcher Baker, and the late Richard (Dick) Baker. In her leisure time, Mary Lee enjoyed reading and working crossword puzzles over the telephone with long time friend, the late Gloria Butcher Baker. Mary Lee and Donald divorced in 1983. In 1991 she married Raymond Tipton, who preceded her in death in 2003. She is survived by her three children: Donald Morgan of Spokane; Pamela Kinkade of Tacoma, Washington; and Teri Kassa of Deer Park, Washington. Her grandchildren are Karyn Cordell-Ruiz of Jamaica, New York; Lena Kassa of Spokane; and Kyle Kassa of Shoreline, Washington. Her brothers and sisters-in-law are long time Billings residents, Carl Francis and Martha Becker Francis, and DeWitt (Woody) Francis and Lois Robbins Francis of Sun City, Arizona, and Lincoln, Montana. Her sister, Cly Stephens, lives in Wenatchee, Washington. She has many nieces and nephews living in the Northwest. She was predeceased by her sister Nella Brannin of Big Timber, Montana, and two half sisters Dorothy Smith Fowler and Meredith Smith Ekhard. Her sister-in-law, Viola (Peachie) Morgan Card, Virginia Baker Garner, Pauline Buckner Cramer have remained loving friends throughout her life.