Ted Morris

Ted Allan Morris passed away at Mesilla Valley Hospice on April 16, 2017. He was born 90 years ago on March 13, 1927 in New London, Connecticut to Earl Jerome Morris of Regina, Saskatchewan and Isabella Cumming Morris of Glasgow, Scotland. As the son of a Coast Guard Chief, he lived in a dozen places growing up. No matter where they went, Ted was in Boy Scouts and, in high school, the Sea Scouts. His goal growing up was to be a Bosun's Mate just like his Dad, and he enlisted in the Coast Guard on his 17th birthday in 1944. His first assignment was convoy escort duty in the North Atlantic aboard the USCGC Faunce (W138). Six months later, the Coast Guard belatedly realized he was too young to serve in combat and transferred him to Mobile, Alabama, where he served on the USCGC Magnolia (WAG231). A few months later, the ‘Maggie' was rammed and sunk by an off course Liberty Ship. After surviving a night treading water and the joy of being rescued by a PBY ‘Catalina' flying boat, Ted decided he'd had enough of ships, and volunteered for Coast Guard Air-Sea Rescue duty. He then served as a plane captain and flight engineer on PBYs, PBM ‘Mariners', and PB1Gs, the rescue version of the B-17G ‘Flying Fortress'. He was based in Newfoundland, Greenland, and Florida, taking part in numerous rescues and humanitarian relief missions. In Florida he met Patricia Julia Ticknor, a nursing student in St. Petersburg, Florida. They were married in July 1949, and they have been together ever since, except during Ted's deployments for the Korean and Vietnamese wars. His passing is breaking his dear Patsy's heart after 68 years of peaceful, loving marriage. In 1949, Ted signed up with the U.S. Air Force, serving as a Crew Chief and Flight Engineer on SB-17Gs and SA-16A ‘Albatrosses' in Florida, Idaho, and, during the Korean War, in Saudi Arabia. In 1953 he was selected for Officer Candidate School and then served as a Flight Engineer on B-36 ‘Peacemakers' at Roswell, and as a B-47 ‘Stratojet' navigator/bombardier in Georgia and New York. In the early ‘60s, he was assigned to Munitions Maintenance squadrons in Morocco and New York, and then to Explosive Ordnance Disposal in 1965. He served in EOD in Florida, California, Maryland, and Vietnam from 1966-1967, where his exposure to Agent Orange eventually crippled and killed him. In 1973, he retired after 30 years of service as a Lieutenant Colonel. He was a Squadron Commander twice, and he earned two Airman's Medals, the highest award for non-combat heroism in the Air Force, the Bronze Star, and numerous ‘Perfect Attendance and Participation Ribbons', as he like to call them. Following his retirement from the service, he moved to Las Cruces and attended New Mexico State University, earning a Bachelor's degree. He then worked for Southwest Title and Abstract for 15 years, after which he retired for good. With his best buddy of the last 44 years, Ben Holstein, Ted owned and managed several apartment buildings off Telshor, until his health could no longer sustain the workload. Although Ted always put service before self, his true passion was his family. He devoted himself to helping his son and daughter and their families, no matter how demanding the task. Ted helped all his grandchildren in sports, Scouts, and every conceivable special program during their school and University years, and on into their adult lives. He helped the community too, with numerous civic projects over his four and a half decades as a Las Crucen . He also volunteered weekly at the Holloman Air Force Base hospital pharmacy for 25 years, and he was the co-author of the Air Force Panel of the Vietnam Memorial at the Las Cruces Veterans Park. Ted is survived by his grieving wife, Patricia, his son Ted, Jr. and his wife Cathy, and his daughter, Kerry Sheets, all of Las Cruces. He is also survived by the five grandchildren and their families to whom he devoted so much of his life: Jessica Sheets Vega and her husband Jacob, now of Tucson, Jonathan Sheets and his wife Anna Ransbotham, now of Denver, Christopher Morris and his wife Janna Ferrales, currently with the US Navy in Japan, Gregory Morris and his wife Rebekah Logue, currently with the US Air Force in Hawaii, and Eric Morris of Konowa, Oklahoma. He is also survived by three great-grandchildren, Geoffrey, Connor, and Kirstin Morris, and by his younger brother, Earl Jerome Morris, Jr., of San Antonio, Texas. There won't be any ceremonies because Ted's enduring request remains for his friends and family to sit back and enjoy each day as it comes, and to support their favorite charities. We will all miss his wisdom, his humor, his steadfast loyalty, and his wonderful love. We will carry him in our hearts and souls forever and ever. Amen. PDF Printable Version