Irene Kenny Morin, M.D.

Irene Kenny Morin, M.D., a retired pediatrician, died July 14, 2019. She was the wife of Norman P. Morin, M.D., a well-known Lake Charles orthopedic surgeon, who died in 2016.

Dr. Morin was born Irene Ellen Kenny, on July 26, 1924, in Jersey City, New Jersey. She was the daughter of George Francis Xavier Kenny and Irene Ellen Carroll. At an early age, her mother became ill, so she moved to the home of her grandmother, Ellen McGee Carroll, and her aunt, Mae Carroll, who would become a defining influence in her life. Mae Carroll was in 1924, a pioneer in own her right, a civil engineer, at a time when there were no women engineers.

Dr. Morin grew up in Jersey City, where she was mostly home schooled by her Aunt Mae in elementary school, then graduated with honors from Henry Snyder High School. Following high school, she was offered a scholarship in music from St. Elizabeth’s College, in Convent Station, New Jersey. Music at that time was considered one of the few appropriate occupations for a woman, but Dr. Morin quickly realized that music was not her calling, and switched her major to Chemistry, in order to pursue a career in medicine. As St. Elizabeth’s did not offer all the required courses for a degree in Chemistry, Dr. Morin also attended N.Y.U and Seton Hall for the other courses she needed. She ultimately received her A.B. in Chemistry in 1944, at the age of 19, from St. Elizabeth’s.

During this time, America was at war. In order to help finance her education, Dr. Morin got a job at the Department of Energy, where she did research on fuel compatibility in connection with the Manhattan Project, a highly secretive project to develop the atomic bomb.

In the fall of 1944, Dr. Morin enrolled at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. She was one of only 4 women in her medical school class. When she graduated in 1948 with a M.D. and a Master of Surgery, she was the youngest woman graduates in McGill’s history. She was 23 years old. While she was in medical school, she also met the love of her life, Norman Morin, who also attended McGill Medical School. They were married shortly before graduation and remained together for 68 years, until his death in 2016.

Following graduation, Dr. Morin moved with her husband back to New Jersey to start a residency in pediatrics at the New Jersey City Medical Center. Soon thereafter, Dr. Morin’s husband, who had enlisted in the Navy prior to going to medical school, received orders to report to the Far East, where he was to be stationed at the Navy Yard in Yokosuka, Japan. In order to be with her husband, Dr. Morin enlisted as a GS-13 with the Army and requested to be transferred to Japan. She initially moved to Yokosuka, Japan, and later transferred with her husband to Otsu, Japan, where she served as a pediatrician for the Occupying Army Dependents. It was in this position that she was asked to see the son of one of Japan’s deposed royalty, who was near death. Dr. Morin’s treatment saved the life of the infant son, and the family, with no money to repay her, gave her a suit of Japanese armor. Dr. Morin’s oldest daughter, Normie Morin Voilleque, was born in Japan.

In 1952, Dr. Morin and her husband transferred with the Army and Navy, respectively, to London, England, where her husband was selected to do an orthopedic fellowship with Sir Reginald Watson Jones, the orthopedic surgeon to the English Royal Family, at the London Hospital. It was in London that Dr. Morin’s second daughter, Reinnette Morin Marek, was born.

As their active period of military duty ended, the Morins decided to move to Louisiana for the Cajun culture and the warmer weather. Dr. Morin had learned French in order to better communicate with her husband’s family, who were French Canadian. She took a job as a senior resident in pediatrics on the Tulane service at Charity Hospital, while her husband took a position as a senior resident in orthopedics. Dr. Morin’s son, Norman P. Morin, II, was born in New Orleans. The Morins later moved to Lake Charles, where they set up private practices in pediatrics and orthopedics. Dr. Morin’s last two daughters, Patrice Morin Resch and Lise Morin Cope, were born in Lake Charles.

Dr. Morin practiced as a pediatrician in Lake Charles for many years. Although she had a brilliant scientific mind, she loved children above all else. Her patients and all those who knew her called her “Dr. Irene.” During this time, despite juggling the needs of her own 5 children and a full-time medical practice, she also co-founded a nursery school in Lake Charles, the American Association of University Women Nursery School, which the famous playwright Tony Kushner attended. Dr. Morin also sewed numerous costumes, hosted countless Blue Bird and Camp Fire Girl meetings, ran carpool, dried tears, cooked thousands of meals, served on the PTA of Immaculate Conception School, and was an active member of Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church, where she was on the parish council. She also served on a Committee for Impaired Physicians in Lake Charles. At the age of 70, having raised 5 children and retired from the active practice of medicine, Dr. Morin went back to school to get her culinary degree at SOWELA Technical Community College. She was one of the chefs for the dinner that the City of Lake Charles hosted for former President Bill Clinton during his visit to the city in 1996.

During the summer, Dr. Morin and her husband went to their small cabin in Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park, Colorado. Many memories were made at this special place for family and friends. Dr. Morin and her husband have asked that their final resting place be in Estes Park.

Dr. Morin was extraordinarily kind and humble. She was a tireless listener, with endless patience, who adored her husband deeply, and who was loved by all.

Dr. Morin was predeceased by her husband, Dr. Norman P. Morin. She is survived by their five children: Normie Morin Voilleque, PhD (Paul), Reinnette Morin Marek (Stan), Norman Paul Morin, II M.D. (Jennifer), Patrice Morin Resch (Phil), and Lise Morin Cope, M.D. (Bruce). She is survived by nine grandchildren: Michelene Morin, Mike Marek, Jacqueline Morin, M.D., Caitlin Morin, M.D., Ben Marek, Calla Spatz, Dominique Cope, Gabrielle (Brie) Cope, Elisabeth Marek, and one great-grandchild, Wyatt Rankin. She was preceded in death by one brother, George Kenny, Jr. Surviving is sister-in-law Jean Chambers Morin, of Houston, TX, and nieces and nephews Kristine Morin Welchman, of Kirkland, WA; Jeannie Morin Iida (Russ), of Bothell, WA; Mike Morin (Mandy), of Dallas, TX; Anne Morin and Terri Morin, of Hagerstown, MD; Robert Morin (Vicki), of Boca Raton, FL; Kathy Morin Block (Chip), of Houston, TX; Michael Morin, M.D., of Metairie, LA; Tom Morin, of Greenbrae, CA; Greg Morin (Patty), of Palatine, IL; Jeannette Morin Bjoernsen (Christian), of San Carlos, CA; and Gilles Rene Morin (Carla), of Baton Rouge, LA.

Special thanks is given to Leola Frazier, who was a trusted friend and helper to Dr. Morin and her husband for 53 years. The Morin family would also like to thank Mr. & Mrs. Delton Landry two of the many friends who allowed our mother to fulfill her wish to live her last years independently in her own home, and caregiver, Liz Delino.

A funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Thursday, July 18, 2019, at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church in Lake Charles under the direction of Johnson Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Alzheimer’s Association, 225 N. Michigan Avenue, Floor 17, Chicago, IL 60601, or the Macular Degeneration Foundation, P.O. Box 531313, Henderson, NV 89053.