Tributes

One day in 1946, a young 16-year-old girl walked with a girlfriend down a dusty red clay Mississippi dirt road, on their way to church. A car pulled up beside them and a handsome young man, recently discharged from the Army, offered them a ride. And thus, began a magical and enchanting journey through life for Morris Ellington, Jr. and Louise Walker. 73 years later, and after 71 years of marriage, Morris lost his beloved Louise on August 29, 2019. And though he tried to carry on, a world without her in it just wasn’t the same, and on February 17, 2020 he left to reunite with his bride. Morris Ellington, Jr. was born on October 3, 1924 in the tiny village of Glen Allan in the Mississippi River Delta. Shortly after he was born, his parents, Morris and Letha Hyde Ellington, moved back to Choctaw County where they were originally from. Morris was the oldest of six children, five boys and one girl, and grew up in a rural farming environment outside the small town of Ackerman, Mississippi. At 18, he went off to serve his country in World War II where he was stationed in the Pacific Theater in Guadalcanal, New Guinea and the Philippines. Honorably discharged at the end of the war, he attended college on the GI Bill, and graduated in 1950 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi. After two years of courtship, Morris and Louise were married on May 29, 1948, in Cleveland, where they lived for the final two years of his education. After graduation Morris accepted a position with Liberty Mutual Insurance—the only full-time job he would ever hold. He started in Memphis and was steadily promoted to positions of higher responsibility in New Orleans, Birmingham, Shreveport and finally San Antonio, where he retired after 36 years in 1987 as the Claims Manager of the San Antonio office. He was three times chairman of the Intercompany Arbitration Committee (where he served a total of nine years), three times president of the Shreveport Claims Managers Council, and was a life member of the American Arbitration Committee. Morris and Louise were long-time members of St. John’s United Methodist Church, where he served in numerous leadership positions, including chair of the church council. Four children would come—Morris III, Laura, Nancy, and Keith. In addition, Morris and Louise were blessed with nine grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren (with a 13th on the way!). Other than family, Morris’ greatest passion was automobiles, and he would often hold court at the supper table during family gatherings and tell tales of Henry Ford, the history of the automobile industry, the cars he had owned, and many other tales. After he retired, he purchased a fully restored 1931 Ford Model A roadster, which he entered in several classic and antique car shows. Morris enjoyed playing games with his children and grandchildren, and was also a voracious reader. John D. McDonald, Donald Hamilton and John Grisham were three of his favorite authors, but he also enjoyed books on historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill and others. But his number one passion was always his family, especially his beloved wife Louise. Although his children and other family members are saddened at our loss, we are thankful and overjoyed that this wonderful couple, our mom and dad, grandpa and grandma, are together once again, and we all look forward to the day to come when we can sit around the supper table and listen to his stories again.

Tributes

Morris Ellington Jr.

October 3, 1924 - February 17, 2020