Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

James Morris, Sr.

James Rosborough Morris, Sr., 73, passed away September 14, 2005, in Spokane, Washington after a 17 year struggle with prostate cancer.

Jim was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on March 11, 1932, to Hannah and Joseph Morris. He attended school there up until 13 years of age when he left for The Taft School in Watertown, Conn.m where he graduated in 1950. He graduated from Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Penn., in 1955 with a degree in Industrial Engineering and immediately began his long career in the forest products industry.

His work took him to Prescott, Arkansas for several years and then on to Cali, Colombia in 1970 to manage Potlatchs lumber and plywood operations in Tumaco. After two years he returned to Arkansas before transferring to Cloquet, Minnesota for another project. 1976 brought him to Lewiston, Idaho as Vice President of Potlatchs Western Division, Wood Products Group, the position he held until retirement in 1988.

During that time he served a term as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the American Plywood Association. His ability to analyze and solve problems was one of his greatest gifts but he always said he was just a dyslexic engineer.

He married Lois Donahue in 1952 in Chicago. Their five children include Connie and John Larkin of Seoul, South Korea, Beth and Marc Cohan of San Diego, Julie and Kurt Rehfeld of Juneau, Alaska, Mary Darley of San Diego, and Jim, Jr. of Aptos, Calif.

He is survived by six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

In 1989 he married Susan Gross (Helpman) and they later moved to Spokane where they have resided the past 10 years.

Jims number one hobby was his 50 years of private flying where he held a commercial rating for single and multi-engine aircraft; he also flew float planes, helicopters, and sail planes. He was most proud of his 58-P Baron which he flew with Sue on many trips to Alaska, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. He also enjoyed scuba diving, sailing, foreign travel, skiing, and trail riding with his two quarter horses. Friends and family always enjoyed his love of cooking and sharing his favorite dishes.

A memorial celebration of Jims life will be held at 11 a.m., Monday, Sept. 19,\ at the Rockwood Retirement Community Center at 2503 E. 25th Avenue, Spokane, Wash. 99223.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorials be made to Spokanimal Care, 710 N. Napa Street, Spokane, Wash. 99202 or Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Foundation, Mailstop: J5-200, P.O. Box 19024, Seattle, Wash. 98109, or a charity of your choice.