Doris Morrison, left, visits with grandson David Morrison III, at the East Ohio Regional Hopsital long-term care facility. Her 109th birthday will fall in July. T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK

MARTINS FERRY — Doris Morrison’s 109th birthday is on July 10, and the longtime Colerain resident said her life has been an interesting one.

She is now residing in the long-term care facility at East Ohio Regional Hospital after a fall this past January.

Her grandson, David Morrison III who lives in New Mexico, and other family in the local area are taking care of Doris Morrison’s house in Colerain.

“I’ve been involved in my grandmother’s life most of my life. I’m 64,” David III said Tuesday. “I’ve come back every year to be with Grandmother. The last six months I’ve been here three different times.”

He leafed through memorabilia collected from the house, including numerous photos of notable points in his grandmother’s life, news articles where she appears, and stories and poems she wrote, which he intends to use in portfolios for the family.

Originally Doris Stobbs, she was born at and lived her early life on Banfield Road, the current location of the Ohio Valley Mall. She married David Morrison in 1936 and they moved to Colerain Pike. Her husband died of bone cancer in 1973.

“Nobody knows how long they’re going to live. She never dreamed she’d live 108 years or 109 years,” her grandson said. “She has a very good mind. She can remember things. She doesn’t get around like she used to. She was at her home for 83 years, since 1935 until the end of January.”

He added that his father, David Morrison II, visits her daily. David Morrison III enjoys playing the harmonica to her.

“She loved music. From the time she was little she sang with her sisters doing dishes at home,” he said. “The music was an important part of her life to help her cope with the pain and loss.”

He has many fond memories of his grandmother sitting outside on her porch.

“She’s just an amazing person to converse with,” he said.

“If you live to be 109, who can relate to it, I say? Who can relate to being 109, and who has family members that are alive?” he said. “How do you sum up 109 years of life?”

She was from a family of almost a dozen siblings. Her youngest sister, Barbara McFarland, lives near Columbus. The rest of her siblings have died. Their parents were Matthew and Lena Stobbs.

David Morrison III said Doris was very active in the Colerain United Presbyterian Church, the local humane society and other nonprofit organizations.

“She had a strong moral ethic, and she was kind to everyone,” he said. “Basic things of life and motherhood, she showed it to me as a grandson. I lost my mother when I was 29, so she was sort of like a second mother to me.”

He said his grandparents instilled in him an appreciation of nature.

At EORH, Doris Morrison was happy to see her grandson when he arrived. She shared several memories.

“When we were kids, we rode the workhorse on Sunday for pleasure around the farm,” she said, recalling a time when her father let her ride a mule, but she found the animal had no mane to hold onto. “He took off down the road, and me with my arms hanging down around the mule’s neck. He called the neighbors: ‘Stop her when she goes by!'”

She also recalls falling into the outhouse at age 4 while trying to save a kitten that had fallen in.

Among the things she is grateful for is her family.

“She sends me flowers every other week, my sister Barbara,” she said.

She also recalls watching work on National Road.

“The road used to be dirt. Then they put sand on it. Then they put gravel, then … concrete,” she said.

Other memories include seeing a New Year’s dirigible during the road’s construction.

“We were little girls. We’d wave,” she said.

She hopes to celebrate turning 109.

“I want a big party,” she said.