Jerry Lewis Morrison

Jerry was born on October 1, 1936, in Waynoka, OK, to parents Lenora Ellen Smith Morrison and Jewel Arthur Morrison, and older brother Edward Franklin Morrison. His father was employed by the Santa Fe Railroad, which meant they moved often and lived close to the tracks. At one point they resided in a bunkhouse car, and another time during a WWII housing shortage the family lived in a tent. Jerry attended elementary school at a one-room schoolhouse in Black, TX until the family moved to Vaughn, NM in 1947. During the autumn of 1950 Jerry contracted polio after attending the state fair. His recovery was long and hard-fought, surviving a coma, paralysis, an iron lung, months of PT, and years of rehabilitation. This is when Jerry shifted his passion from football to mathematics.

In 1954 Jerry graduated third in his class from Portales (NM) High School and immediately left for the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro, NM where he graduated with highest honors, earning a degree in physics, then later earning his master’s and PhD from the University of Nevada. Jerry attributed his academic success to the encouragement and mentoring provided by several notable instructors during his late high school and college years.

In 1962 he met and married Nevada native Barbara Lee Couch, the mother of his children, Ardith and Jill. In 1967, following a year as a physics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Jerry, Barbara & Ardith relocated to southern California where he began his 26-year career with Chevron Corp. This career in geophysics took him to locales all over the western hemisphere, and residences in Hacienda Heights, CA, Houston, TX, Slidell, LA, and back to Houston where he lived for nearly 40 years.

Jerry met the love of his life, Robbie Lee Yeomans Vollentine, in 1989. They were married June 2, 1990, and spent their remaining years together travelling the world and watching their respective families grow, often entertaining large gatherings at “the farm” in Burton, TX. In addition to being surrounded by family, Jerry enjoyed his passions for reading and learning, and cooking and eating (he mastered the grill and made a mean pot of chili!) Jerry had a quick wit and often kept his audience laughing with his wicked sense of humor and limitless repertoire of one liners and off-color jokes.

Following the death of his daughter in 1989, Jerry established the Jill Marie Morrison Memorial Scholarship through the Kappa Alpha Theta Foundation. He further honored Jill’s legacy by making annual pilgrimages to Ole Miss to meet the new scholarship recipient, catch up with previous awardees, and treat them to dinner on the Oxford Square. He treasured enduring relationships with several of these women, and the scholarship remains active to this day. This endowment awards an academic scholarship each year to a member of Theta who exemplifies high academic standards while pursuing a bachelor’s or post-graduate degree.

Jerry is preceded in death by his parents, Lenora Ellen Smith Wozniak and Jewel Arthur Morrison; his brother Edward Franklin “Buck” Morrison; his daughter Jill Marie Morrison; and numerous cousins, aunts and uncles. He leaves behind his wife, Robbie Lee Yeomans Morrison of Houston, TX; his daughter Ardith Morrison Morgan (James) of Collierville, TN; step-children Lisa Vollentine Schrader of Houston, Christopher Vollentine (Karen) of College Station, TX, and James Vollentine (Shanna) of LaGrange, TX; grandchildren Virginia Morgan Huncosky (Tom) of Williston, ND, Andrew Morgan (Rylee) of N. Richland Hills, TX, Jennifer Hatcher Bernard (Zachary) of League, TX, Nicholas Hatcher of Houston, TX, Christopher Hatcher of Houston, TX, Allison Vollentine of Stuttgart, AR, Ashtyn Vollentine of Dallas, TX, and Zachary Vollentine of LaGrange, TX; and great-grandchildren Mackenzie Bernard, Brantley Hatcher, Mylo Hatcher, and Ryleigh Hatcher.

Jerry will be interred next to his daughter on June 14, 2025, in a private graveside ceremony at Powers Chapel Cemetery in Rosebud, TX. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to either Powers Chapel Cemetery Assn.,c/o Stephanie Kasner, Treasurer, PO Box 344, Rosebud, TX 76570, or the Jill Morrison Memorial Scholarship c/o Kappa Alpha Theta Foundation, 8740 Founders Rd., Indianapolis, IN 46268 or www.kappaalphatheta.org/foundation (please make checks payable to Kappa Alpha Theta Foundation, noting “Jill Morrison Memorial Scholarship” in the memo line. If making an online donation please make same notation.)

The family is extremely grateful for the thoughtful care Jerry received at Methodist Hospital, and by his supportive caretakers provided by One You Love Homecare.