John Thomas Morrison

On Thursday, April 2, 2026, soon after sunrise, John Thomas "Tom" Morrison shed the weight of his worn, earthly coat of 87 years on Earth and entered into the glory of His Savior, welcomed by Jerri - the love of his life, and so many others waiting to welcome him Home to Heaven. He was blessed to celebrate resurrection Sunday face-to-face with Jesus.

Born in Chattanooga, October 14, 1938, he was raised as the third generation of Morrisons to live in the family Home on Lookout Mountain, and in turn, raised with Jerri their son Danny in that house with years of continual faithfulness and godly example.

Tom was a faithful son, brother, Uncle, Husband & Dad, and friend to so many family and friends. He was known for his way of picking at and poking fun with others as an expression of mischievous love and devotion and got as good as he gave.

There were many stories over the years at family gatherings with both his and Jerri's sides of the family of "the country", the aunts who loved him and his brother, "Reach Out" Ranch, Murfreesboro, where Jerri's parents had moved and Mt. Lookout, where she had grown up. He served at Ft. Jackson, SC for two years, receiving the Sharpshooter (Rifle) decoration, attended Ben Lippen and Colombia Bible College, served as dispatcher for the town and as dog catcher. He was perhaps best known in his work as a security guard, which he retired from as a career, but not from Kingdom work. He and Jerri attended the St. Elmo Presbyterian fellowship until Danny was a young man, and the family transferred to Duncan Park Baptist in East Ridge, where they faithfully attended and served for decades, both loving others and well-loved. Tom continued attending and serving on the missions board there after Jerri went Home to Heaven in 2023. Like his mother and brother before him, Tom exuded quiet strength. He would drive down the mountain for a paper, meals to cook, errands to the bank, doctor and haircuts up to the day he entered the hospital and soon transitioned to Heaven.

His greatest legacy is his love for his Lord, expressed through his middle-years venture in "Morrison Services", selling Mason shoes, insurance and offering private security, as an "Ambassador for Christ" in "Outreach Ministry". The following was the body of a flyer he would distribute:

"'Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer thought, scarcely worth his while to waste his time on the old violin but held it up with a smile.

'What am I bidden, good fold?' he cried; 'who'll start bidding for me?' A dollar, a dollar - now two, only two - two dollars, and who'll make it three?'

'Three dollars once, three dollars twice; going for three' - but NO! From the back of the room, a gray-haired man came forward and picked up the bow:

then, wiping the dust from the old violin and tightening up all the strings, he played a melody pure and sweet, as sweet as an angel sings.

The music ceased, and the auctioneer, with a voice that was quiet and low, said, 'What am I bid for the old violin?' And he held it up with the bow.

'A thousand dollars - and who'll make it two? Two thousand - and who'll make it three? Three thousand once, and three thousand twice - and going - and gone,' said he.

The people cheered, but some of them cried, 'We do not quite understand - what changed its worth?' The man replied, 'The touch of the Master's hand.'

And many a person with life out of tune, and battered and torn by sin, is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd, much like the old violin.

'A mess of pottage', a glass of wine, a game - and travels on; going - and almost gone!

But the Master comes and the foolish crowd never can quite understand the worth of a soul, and the change that's wrought by the touch of the Master's hand."

"Sin will take you farther than you ever wanted to stray.

Keep you longer than you ever wanted to stay.

And cost you more than you ever wanted to pay."

"The clock of life is wound but once, and no one has the power to tell just where the hands will stop at late or early hour.

To lose one's wealth is sad, indeed; to lose one's health is more; to lose one's soul is such a loss no one can restore.

The present only, is our own to seek to do God's will; tomorrow holds no promise, for the clock - may then be still."

"Lost somewhere between sunrise and sunset are two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes.

No reward is offered, they are lost and gone forever. To waste time is to waste life.

Every minute you give to someone is the only minute God Almighty gives to us to live."

"Life is short, death is sure, sin is the curse, but Christ is the cure."

"Heaven or Hell, which will it be? Where will you spend eternity?

["His Master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.

You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.

Enter into the joy of your Master'." - Matthew 25:21

Well done, indeed. Amen.]

Arrangements entrusted to Advantage Funeral & Cremation Services Franklin-Strickland Chapel, 1724 McCallie Avenue, Chattanooga, TN, 37404, 423-265-4414.

Please visit our website to share your favorite memories of John: www.advantagefranklin-strickland.com