On Sunday, 14 December, 2025, Peter Hodges Morse participated online in church services and in a rosary recitation at Church of the Ascension, his longtime place of worship in Chicago, IL. Within the hour of participating in the rosary, he passed away in peace to what he referred to as his "great reward".

Peter was born on 1 March, 1935, to Emerson Morse and Carol (Rolph) Morse, in Chicago, Illinois. He was forever grateful to his parents for beginning his elementary education at The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools where a lifelong love and curiosity for learning in a diverse student community became part of him. From there his academic education took him to Kimball Union Academy (preparatory school, Meridan, NH), Harvard University (B.A., English, Cambridge, MA), The University of Chicago School of Medicine (M.D., Chicago, IL), Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (ophthalmology residency, Baltimore, MD), and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (vitreoretinal surgery fellowship, Cambridge, MA).

In his college years at Harvard University, Peter particularly enjoyed his associations with the Hasty Pudding Club and The Harvard Lampoon, where spirits and dinners of humor and frivolities consistently prevailed over studies. Throughout his educational affiliations, many friendships brought him lifelong joy and memorable times.

Peter dedicated his professional life to medicine as a retina specialist, educator, researcher, and author of books and scientific papers. Workplaces included Scheie Eye Institute (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA), Ochsner Eye Institute (New Orleans, LA), The University of Chicago Med Ophthalmology (Professor Emeritus, Chicago, IL), and Central Plains Clinic/Sioux Valley Ophthalmology (Sioux Falls, SD).

Dr. Charles Schapens, founder of retina surgery and Peter's mentor and teacher at Mass Eye and Ear, described Peter to his wife Rhonda as the "salt of the earth".

Medical mission trips took him to China, India, and Pakistan to teach, establish retina surgery residency programs, and to perform eye surgeries. As a medical corp officer in the US Navy stationed in Charleston, SC, he was sent on a four-month assignment to Algeria where his interest in a new culture and study of Arabic began.

Peter loved the Anglo-Catholic faith in which he was raised from early childhood. In more recent years, his participation in the Legion of Mary provided him with deep joy and a treasured faith family.
He loved classical music, especially operas, and played and collected keyboard musical
instruments.
He loved books where he could hold growth and knowledge in his hands.
He loved teaching medical students in the practice of ophthalmology and vitreoretinal surgery.
He loved traveling and embracing a country's people, their languages, cultures and landscapes.
He loved learning languages. Indeed, first priority was the "King's English" followed by French, Latin, Arabic, and Szechwan.
He loved nature and enjoyed planting trees, especially flowering trees, and observing over the years how they grew from a few feet to thirty feet, including the magnificence of magnolias thriving in South Dakota.
He loved all animals, with a distinct fondness for dogs and frogs.

As Peter proclaimed, he loved his wife Rhonda at first sight. On 11 May, 1991, he and Rhonda Lee Andersen married in the farm home of her late stepfather and mother, Maurice and Shirley Matson, near Hetland, South Dakota. The Frog Prince and Lady Rhonda embraced living happily for ever and ever through thirty-four years of adventures, good wit, and loving care of each other.

Peter expressed sincere gratitude to Rhonda's mother Shirley for providing him with a family where his journeys of finding peace on earth and unrelenting love were found. Just three days before his own, Shirley preceded Peter in death on 11 December, 2025. His wife Rhonda, Pup Claude Gaston, and a host of dearly cherished family members and friends survive to carry on in fulfilling their own earthly missions, until they all meet again.

Funeral service will be held on 24 January, 2026, at The Church of the Good Shepherd, 2707 W 33rd St, Sioux Falls, SD, with family visitation beginning at 12:30pm, rosary at 1 pm and service at 1:30pm, followed by refreshments and fellowship.

Please click HERE to view the livestream.

The family asks that donations in Peter's memory be made to Medicine on the Street (Sioux Falls, SD), the Sioux Falls Area Humane Society, or a charitable organization of your choice.