Bill E. Morrison

Morrison, Bill E. Billie Erick Morrison, loving husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, passed away Sunday, October 3, 2004, at home in Waco. A memorial service will be held in the chapel at First United Methodist Church at 10:00 AM, Thursday, October 7, 2004. Bill was born in Erick, Oklahoma, to Orion and Anna Mae White Morrison on July 28, 1928, and attended school in Stigler and Arapaho, Oklahoma, where his father carried the rural mail. He left high school during WWII to join the U. S. Army and served with the occupation forces in Europe following the war where he helped those displaced by the war return to their home countries. He also attended the Allied war crimes trials of former Nazis in Nuremberg. He later earned his bachelors, masters and law degrees from the University of Oklahoma and then completed his military career as a full colonel serving in the U. S. Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps where his final assignment was the Air Force’s Chief Military Judge in Europe. Following retirement in 1978, he resided near Mountain Home, Arkansas, where he enjoyed trout fishing with his friends and grandchildren. In 1987, he moved to Waco to be near his grandchildren. While in Waco, he continued his study of family history and began to collect the history of Waco. He located, transcribed, and shared with members of his extended family the diaries of his grandfather, Harvey Morrison, which detail Harvey’s travels to Texas and illustrate life in Waco during the 1870s. Bill married Doris Deanne Nadine Cunningham on October 16, 1948, in Wheeler, Texas. Preceding him in death were his parents, his brother Fletcher and sisters Lou, Bobbie, and Rebecca. He is survived by Deanne, his beloved wife of almost fifty-six years; brother Orion and his wife, Dottie, of Los Angeles; brother-in-law Craig Matthews of Dallas; son and daughter-in-law Mike and Nancy Morrison of Waco; daughter-in-law Suzanne Meade of Waco; grandchildren Sam Morrison of Los Angeles; Matt Morrison and his wife, Leigh Ellen, of Waco; and Amy Casbeer of Waco; a great-grandchild, William Dean Morrison of Waco, and many nieces and nephews. The family suggests that in lieu of flowers, those who wish to make memorial contributions consider the First United Methodist Church of Waco, the American Heart Association, or a charity of their choice. The family invites you to leave a message or memory in the “Memorial Guestbook” at www.wilkirsonhatchbailey.com.