ROCKLAND — On Friday, March 10, Johanna Gurschick Morrison passed away peacefully in her sleep, surrounded by her loved ones.

Johanna was born on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1932 at home in Rumford, Maine, to Johanna (Schott) and Karl W. Gurschick. The youngest girl of 12 children, she grew up appreciating the importance of family, hard work, and finding the good that exists around us.

Johanna graduated in the class of 1951 from Stephens High School in Rumford. On September 3, 1951, Johanna married her high school sweetheart, the love of her life, Stephen D. Morrison. They spent their first year in Rochester, New York while he was in college at RIT. Following his graduation, they moved to Durham, New Hampshire where Steve was employed by the University of New Hampshire as a photographer. They had four children and in June of 1959, the family moved to Rockland, Maine where Steve and Johanna spent the last 63+ years together.

Johanna led a truly full life. She worked with her husband at Morrison Studio, where Steve took years of wedding photos and senior portraits for the students of Rockland and surrounding towns. At the same time, she was helping to develop Morrison Travel Agency. Over the next 25 years, Johanna and Steve traveled to 38 different countries. In 1985 they retired and discovered the joys of “motorhoming” across the country. Both Johanna and Steve have made friends everywhere they have been. She will be dearly missed and remembered by all who knew her.

The greatest joy in her life was her family. There was always something going on in the Morrison household, and that continued as she had grandchildren and then great-grandchildren. Her family remembers happy events like Christmas gatherings, Thanksgiving meals, and parties where the house was packed with her four children, their spouses, and her 13 grandchildren. Summers were spent in Weld, Maine, surrounded by family, “making memories.” She loved to knit and over the course of her life she made countless pairs of mittens, blankets, hats, scarves, sweaters, and dish cloths.

One of her favorite pastimes was playing a game of cards (especially Skip- Bo, Joker, or 3-13). She was merciless in her pursuit of getting the right card and winning the game – even with grandchildren and great-grandchildren! Her memory will live on whenever her family hears the snap of a deck of cards or the sound of shuffling. Later in life, she was an avid Red Sox and Patriots fan, making sure to catch every game and follow all the stats.

Johanna is survived by her husband, Stephen D. Morrison; her younger brother, Walter Gurschick and his wife, Leona; her four children, (Johanna) Elizabeth, Virginia, Christine, and Stephen II and their spouses; 11 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

A celebration of Johanna’s life will be held Sunday, March 19, 2023, at 2 p.m., at Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home, 110 Limerock Street, Rockland, with reception to follow at the Samoset Resort in Rockport.

To share a memory or condolence with the Morrison family, please visit their Book of Memories at www.bchfh.com.