In an interview earlier this year, Dr. Sylvia Morris was asked what she would like people to remember most about her life.

“That I loved Cullman,” she replied.

Morris, 87, passed away Saturday morning at UAB Hospital, after living a very accomplished life.

She originally hailed from Le Roy, Iowa — though she was quick to note in a previous interview that Cullman is her “adopted home.”

“Don’t you dare suggest I go back to Iowa,” she said. “I love Cullman and it’s certainly my home now.”

Morris was a fourth-generation doctor, who spent much of her professional career working in the Cullman area.

She was the first licensed female doctor to practice in Cullman, and before coming to the area served as an instructor at the UAB School of Medicine.

Morris was also deeply entrenched in the community, having served on the Women’s Auxiliary, Medical Association of the state of Alabama; as president of the Cullman Civic Music Association; on the Board of Directors for the Cullman County Mental Health Association; and on the Board of Directors for Cullman County Red Cross.

She was also named the The Times 2008 Distinguished Citizen.

Morris helped establish scholarships for public school teachers and brought about the construction of both the Cullman County Public Library and the Cullman High School complex. She helped develop the swim team, established Cullman Hospice and served on the board of directors of the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce.

In an interview earlier this year with The Times, Morris remained humble about her laundry list of accomplishments.

“No one does these things by themselves,” she said. “It’s a community effort, and if you can find somebody who is willing to work with you to get something done, why not do it? And have a good time while you’re at it, and we did. Some of the people I worked with were just wonderful.”

In addition to her leaps forward in the medical field, Morris was also an accomplished author. She wrote the book “Jerome: To My Beloved Absent Companion” and a book about doctors in Cullman County before 1900.

Morris also established herself as a poet and short story author, earning a Writer’s Conclave of Alabama honorable mention recognition for her poem, “Old Age.”

Dot Gudger, who befriended Morris through the Cullman County Historical Society, said Morris was a special woman.

“She was just a wonderful lady, well ahead of her time,” she said. “We just feel a grave loss. She had so much to offer and we will miss her greatly.”

Gudger said that after all of the time she spent in Cullman, Morris was a wealth of knowledge for the society.

“She was just a treasure trove of information for the Historical Society,” she said. “Instrumental in the formation of the society. She was an officer for many years.”

Dr. Bill Pienhardt, a former colleague of Morris, said Morris could always be counted on for advice when a situation arose.

“I always felt like she was a superbly trained and intelligent physician and I always listened to her advice,” he said. “I also admired the interest and effort she put into the … history of medicine in north Alabama.”

Cullman County Coroner Gary Murphree, a friend of Morris’, said she could always be counted on to lend a helping hand.

She would do anything you wanted her to do,” he said. “If there was a cause she was there to help. That’s the thing I remember most about her.”

Carolyn Pienhardt-Johnson said she looked up to Morris and admired her strength.

“She was just a valiant person,” she said. “I admired her so much.”

Pienhardt-Johnson said Morris had been a big supporter of local groups and clubs.

“I know she was a staunch supporter of the historical society,” she said.

Close friend Jewel Hall said Morris was an important figure to the people of Cullman.

“She was an icon,” she said.

In her last interview with The Times, Morris said her goal in life was to leave Cullman a better place than she found it — for the generations that would follow.

“I always wanted to help create the kind of community my children would want to return to as adults, and they have,” she said. “That gives me great satisfaction.”

Funeral arrangements for Dr. Sylvia Morris were incomplete by press time. A complete obituary will be published in the Tuesday edition of The Times.