Walter Morris

Walter Fowlkes Morris was born on May 20, 1935 to Helen Fowlkes Morris and Enoch Carter Morris, who preceded him in death. He was also preceded in death by his beloved wife of 62 years, Frances “Bee” Newman Morris, and his brother Enoch Carter Morris, Jr.

He is survived by his sister, Helen Morris Simmons; his four children, Walter Morris, Jr. (Cory), Henry Hardin Morris (Betsy), Francie Morris Deaton (Ogden), and Duncan Taylor Morris; his thirteen grandchildren: Frances Newman Deaton, John Hardin Morris (Katie), Ogden Shropshire Deaton, Jr. (Taylor Anne), Ann Hollon Morris Schaffeld (Thomas), Henry Haynes Morris (Lindsay), Carolyn Morris Collier (Forrest), Walter Tucker Deaton, Caroline Morris Hanson (Will), Duncan Taylor Morris, Jr (Meade), Walter Fowlkes Morris III (Mary Beth), Taylor Lee Morris, Frances Louise Morris, John Fowlkes Morris; five great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Walter grew up on Main Street in Crestline and attended Canterbury United Methodist Church. As an adult he and Bee were active members of St Luke's Episcopal Church and later helped start St Peter's Anglican Church. While at St Luke's he served as Senior Warden. Walter attended Crestline Elementary School, the first freshman class of Shades Valley high school, and then his beloved McCallie School in Chattanooga, TN. One of his heroes at the McCallie School was Dr. Spencer McCallie, whom God used to draw his heart towards Christ. He treasured his summers in Idaho as a teenager where he, along with his childhood best friend Billy Brown, lived in tents and pulled invasive Ribes in the US Forest Service’s Blister Rust Control Program. It was there where he famously punched a bear in the nose through a crack in the car window. At Auburn, where he was a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, he received a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1957. He served the United States as a First Lieutenant in the Army, stationed at Fort Belvoir, VA.

Back in Birmingham, while driving down Montevallo Road in his red Austin-Healey, he saw Frances Newman sitting on her porch petting her dog. To her delight he turned the car around, thus beginning a 63 year romance. They married and moved to Chicago where he worked as an engineer for Chicago Bridge & Iron. He returned to the South to work on the Red Mountain Expressway project with Harbert Construction Company. This began a 50 year career in civil and bridge construction. If you have driven on highways in Alabama you have most likely driven over one of his bridges. He owned two construction companies, Morris-Shea Bridge Company and The Morris Group. Walter was the President of the Alabama Road Builders Association, a lifelong member of the Birmingham Country Club, and past captain of the Monday Morning Quarterback Club, which was started by Bee’s father Zipp Newman. He loved all things McCallie and Auburn University and its sports, but most importantly he loved his family and friends. His children remember how he prayed with them at bedtime and told them “I love you” each night.

Walter was blessed with a lifelong group of close friends. He was a competitive athlete, especially loving his days of playing football. He could vividly recall football plays all the way back to an eighth grade game when Crestline Elementary played arch rival Mountain Brook Elementary. He was a great storyteller and had the gift of making everyone he talked to feel special. He had a tremendous work ethic, was a man of flawless integrity, and up until the hours before his death he made other people feel more important than himself.

The family would like to thank our caregivers Benita Faye, Terry Haygood, LaShaun Williams, and Annetta Eldridge, who loved and cared for him and Bee so well, as well as Linda Bottoms and the great folks at Lifecare for Seniors.

Visitation will be held at 10:00 A.M., followed by a memorial service at 11:00 A.M, on Saturday, April 11, at St Peter’s Anglican Church. Additional visitation will follow the service. Rev. Bryan White will be officiating. Family graveside will be prior to the service. Pallbearers are Ogden Deaton, Jr., Tucker Deaton, Duncan Morris, Jr., John Morris, John Hardin Morris, Henry Morris,and Walter Morris, III.

Memorials can be sent to Schaeffer House (Betsy Morris' ministry - give through ixoglobal.org), or to the Monday Morning Quarterback Club.

Overflow parking, with a shuttle to St. Peter's, is available at the Montevallo Road entrance to Mountain Brook Baptist Church.