Remembering Gene O. Morris

Gene and I were good friends. Not the kind of friends that hung out together or socialized together but good friends nevertheless. Perhaps the impetus for that friendship was the fact we were both Democrats in an area of the country where there aren’t many. But I know we connected soon after I moved here in 1995 and stayed connected until his death.

Gene was a tremendous resource in helping me finalize my book and get it printed as well as often being the editor of my newspaper columns. He once told me he found fewer things to correct in my writings than anything else he edited. That made him happy and me proud.

He was hands-on with the people of this area and respectful of all of them. One day after having coffee at Sehnert’s, we were making our way to our cars when a person approached him with a criticism about a column Gene had written earlier. Gene gave the man full voice as we stood on the sidewalk in front of Sehnert’s and only responded when the man’s complaint was over. And then it was in a kind and respectful way because his objective was always to befriend people rather than alienate them. It worked on that guy as I’m sure it had worked on countless others throughout the years.

Gene had a temper that most people never saw but when it surfaced, it was almost always directed at himself rather than others. It was usually accompanied by a series of choice words but once his tirade was over, he resumed his normal personality.

I was playing golf one day with him, his wife Barbara and his father-in-law Ellis and we were on the 5th hole at Heritage Hills which is a par 3. His father-in-law hit his drive into the woods on the left side of the hole, took three shots to get back into the fairway, two more shots to reach the green and then two putted to finish the hole. His father-in-law was upset for sure and since Gene was keeping score, he yelled out to Ellis what his score was on that hole. Ellis, in all seriousness, said “Give me a darned four.”

As Gene wrote his father-in-law’s score down he looked up at me with that familiar twinkle in his eye and said, “I always give Ellis the score he wants.”

That was for family relations but that’s how he was with practically everyone in his life. He was bright, intelligent, articulate and a great writer who could cut right to the chase and determine what the meat of the story was about. There aren’t many people who leave a void that can’t be filled by anyone else when they pass but Gene was one of those rare people.

It was a joy and pleasure to know him, to call him my friend and to participate in several community projects with him.

I will miss him tremendously.