Gregory "Greg" Seabury Morris

"I have had the most amazing life," Greg Morris wrote not long ago. He meant every word.

49 years is not enough. Not even close. But Greg packed more into his life than most could do in 3 lifetimes. He traveled all over the world. He dove with whale sharks and manta rays, hunted in Alaska, hiked with gorillas, and spent thousands of days in the woods and on the water, catching just about every fish you can think of. He skied mountains with his boys, played hockey and coached it, and he drove 150 miles an hour around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He logged some 250 hours wake surfing with his best friends, most of whom were also his family. Along the way he picked up a love of fancy watches, fast cars, the Colts (mainly the tailgate with family and friends) and a good magic show.

His best friend and partner in EVERYTHING was his beloved wife Sara. They were high school sweethearts at Carmel High School. They did it all and went everywhere together. She was his partner and co-pilot in everything, and the life they built was big and beautiful and full.

Then came Bauer (15) and Brooks (13), his "two kick-ass kids." Greg worked every day at raising them into men, and it shows. They are funny, smart, loyal and inclusive, "with a tiny bit of mischief worked in.” He was behind the bench at the rink on cold mornings before the sun came up, and at the lake every summer, watching them learn to sail and grow up the way he had.

Greg never knew a stranger, and just about everyone had their own name for him: Gingiss, Grego, Greggy, Craig, Morris, Señor, G-Money, Big Shooter, and plenty more. He had a smile for everyone, a quirky and irreverent sense of humor, and a way of making people feel like they belonged.

It’s safe to say that Greg’s heart and soul has always been, and will always be, at Crystal Lake: the traditions, the late nights on the porch, the ice cream runs to the Dairy Maid, the family that continued to grow and the friendships that started there and never ended. In his words, it was his happy place.

A graduate of Wittenberg University, Greg spent decades at Pinnacle Oil, carrying forward the business his family built and helping it grow. He was proud of that history and the business they built together, and the legacy he was building for the generation coming up behind him. He had a knack for turning customers into friends, relationships that were very important to him.

Greg had faced hard things before. When he needed a kidney transplant, 63 people gave blood to see if they could be his donor, which tells you how loved he was. Then came cancer, and a terrible hand. "I don't actually have a positive attitude on the cancer," he said, "but I do on life." He was sure he'd live to be 100, but if he didn't, he could honestly say life had been good to him. He'd want Joe Walsh to get the credit for that line.

So he kept on keeping on. Brooks and Bauer were the reason he fought, and Sara was his strength and his true partner in all of it. For Greg, the fight was never just about more time. It was about more time with the people he loved, and he squeezed every bit out of it he could. He packed more living into those last three years than most people manage in a lifetime, and he showed the rest of us what courage looks like, and what it means to love your family with everything you've got.

Forty-nine years is not enough. Not even close. What hurt Greg's heart most was missing the big days ahead for his boys: graduations, weddings, babies, first houses. But he knew they would have a village that would show up for them.

So take the trip. Buy the watch. Get to the rink early. That's how Greg did it.

Greg leaves his wife, Sara; his sons, Brooks and Bauer; his parents, Weezie and Kimball Morris; his brothers, Kent (Jen) Morris and Robbie (Meghan) Morris; his sister, Lindsey (Marc) Gutman; and the nieces and nephews he adored and was so proud of. Greg will be forever loved, remembered and celebrated.

A celebration of life will be held on November 28th, from 1-4 p.m., at The Heirloom in Indianapolis, with another to follow at Crystal Lake next summer. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to “Learn to Play,” a youth program to grow the game of hockey and one that was very important to and supported by Greg: https://iyha.sportngin.com/register/form/427572737