Lives Lost: A Louisiana grandmother 'took care of everyone'
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Mary Louise Brown Morgan kept a garden 十分な of rosebushes and just about every 肉親，親類d of fruit tree, from plums to satsuma oranges to kumquats. And when the lawn surrounding her south Louisiana home grew too high, the 78-year-old grandmother climbed on her lawnmower to 削減（する） it herself.
"She had the most beautiful yard on the 封鎖する," said her grandson, Steve Morgan.
Morgan, a "God-恐れるing woman" who made a "mean gumbo and red beans," died on March 27, he said. She was the first in Terrebonne Parish to succumb to the coronavirus, in a 明言する／公表する where COVID-19 is taking a 激しい （死傷者）数.
Born in New Orleans on Jan. 5, 1942, she was a lifelong 居住（者） of Gray, Louisiana - a small town of about 6,000 people, 深い in the 明言する／公表する's Acadiana 地域.
Three times a week, she could be 設立する working out at her 地元の gym, where she enjoyed 存在 with the Silver Slippers, a group of ladies who also would go out to lunch and have parties together, said her niece Penny Mikkel.
In 新規加入 to her gardening, she raised chickens, giving away eggs to friends and family. She was a 正規の／正選手 churchgoer and たびたび（訪れる） volunteer at Mt. Vernon Methodist Church, where she put up the Christmas tree and kept the pews clean.
In this photo 供給するd by Steve Morgan, Mary Louise Brown Morgan, second from 権利, 提起する／ポーズをとるs with 親族s in the 落ちる of 2019. The 78-year-old grandmother died March 27, 2020, after 存在 診断するd with the new coronavirus. Morgan was 述べるd by family members as a "God-恐れるing woman," who made a "mean gumbo and red beans," and loved to tend to her garden of rosebushes and fruit trees. (Steve Morgan 経由で AP)
To her 延長するd family, she was the matriarch who went out of her way to make sure they were 承認する. She helped care for a dying brother, a friend's children, and before Steve's sister Cecily died last 落ちる, she traveled 支援する and 前へ／外へ to Houston to visit her while she was 存在 扱う／治療するd.
"My auntie had this beautiful spirit. .... She was very elegant and graceful and at the same time 負かす／撃墜する to earth," said Penny. "She was a treasure to our family. She kept everyone together."
She also loved to travel, Steve said, 解任するing how she flew to New York to cook Thanksgiving dinner for him and his 医療の school 同僚s.
"Everybody loves her pies and cakes that she would bake," he said.
She took care of the 調書をとる／予約するs for her late husband, who was a master plumber, and 押し進めるd her grandson to その上の his education. He 結局 became a doctor in Cleveland, Ohio.
"It seemed like every 卒業 I had, she was there," said Steve, whose wife is also a 内科医. "Everything we did, she would 削減（する） it out and put it into a でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れる and hang it in her house."
When his grandmother called 説 she wasn´t feeling 井戸／弁護士席 and asking him to come visit, he knew it was serious. She never asked for anything, he said.
Steve is acutely aware of the dangers of this coronavirus as an 緊急 department 内科医. He's been 扱う／治療するing 感染させるd 患者s in Cleveland. Still, watching his grandmother's 条件 悪化する so quickly was shocking: He arrived at the hospital in Houma on a Sunday evening, and she was intubated the next day. He never got a chance to talk with her 直面する to 直面する, and when she died, he couldn't be at her 味方する, instead looking into her room from the hallway outside.
"I was watching on the other 味方する of the glass. That was rough. I think that was the hardest part," he said.
A funeral service was held Thursday, April 2, but not inside her church. Instead, a small group of 会葬者s - many wearing masks - stood at a distance and waved at each other, Penny said. Some day, when the coronavirus 危険 has 少なくなるd, they 計画（する） to have a proper 記念の service.
"It´s a horrible 病気," her grandson said. "You can´t even gather together to remember her."
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Follow Santana on Twitter @ruskygal.
In this image 供給するd by 妖精／密着させる Morgan, Steve Morgan, left, and his grandmother Mary Louise Brown Morgan 提起する／ポーズをとる for a photo together. The 78-year-old grandmother died March 27, 2020, after 存在 診断するd with the new coronavirus. Morgan was 述べるd by family members as a "God-恐れるing woman," who made a "mean gumbo and red beans," and loved to tend to her garden of rosebushes and fruit trees. (妖精／密着させる Morgan 経由で AP)
