Basil D. Morris

MORRIS, Basil D
of Kalamazoo, Michigan Basil D Morris, age 91, passed away March 17, 2014 in the presence of his son and granddaughter at Rose Arbor. Basil was born June 14, 1922 near Allegan, Michigan, the eighth of thirteen children of John and Minnie Platt Morris. He lived on various farms in the area and graduated in 1941 from Otsego High School where he was captain of the football team and student council president. He briefly attended Parson's Business School before enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Corps. During his training, Basil married his high school sweetheart, Sona Welburn, in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 30, 1942. He served as a second lieutenant bombardier on a B-24, which was shot down over Austria on February 25, 1944. After parachuting out of his burning plane, Basil was captured and held prisoner of war by the Germans until the end of the war in Europe, fifteen months later. After returning to Michigan, Basil used the G. I. Bill to enroll at the University of Michigan, graduating with a degree in Business Administration in 1949. Basil then worked 35 years for the Upjohn Company and received the Upjohn Prize Award for Outstanding Service to the company. After Sona's death in 1994, he was fortunate to find a second love and married Jean Chapman in 1995. Basil and Jean moved to Florida where Basil was active in a P.O.W. group and enjoyed playing golf and bridge for nine years before moving back to Kalamazoo. Yearly reunions with his Bombardier Group, inspired him to write a book about his experiences, WWII and Me in 2006. Basil served as the moderator of the First Congregational Church of Kalamazoo and held other positions during the more than 60 years of his membership there. He volunteered for the S.C.O.R.E. program and in later years took up wood carving and playing in the Kitchen Band at Friendship Village. He loved watching the Detroit Tigers and University of Michigan football and basketball. Basil was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife, Sona; his brothers, Walter, Ray, Maynard, Clyde, Alan, John, and Don; and his sisters, Elsie Cronkhite Berry, Rena Dendel, and Ellen Bell. He is survived by his wife, Jean; his son Robert Sally Morris and their children Brian, Dustin Hadley Moore, and Andrea; his daughter, Shirley John Pische and their son, Matthew; two step-daughters, Linda John Smith and Jill David Washburn and their children and grandchildren; two sisters, Reva Tuhacek and Esther Hartgerink; brother-in-law Dan Polly Welburn and their family; and numerous nieces and nephews. Visitation will be in the Kiva Room at Friendship Village on North Drake Road in Kalamazoo at 10:00 am, Saturday, April 5, 2014. The memorial service will follow at 10:30, the Rev. Nathan Dannison officiating. A private family graveside service will be held at Fort Custer Cemetery on a later date. Memorials may be made to Friendship Village, First Congregational Church UCC of Kalamazoo, or Rose Arbor Hospice Residence.