Morris Loeb Col. Shoss

Our loving father and grandfather Colonel Morris Loeb Shoss, born April 10, 1915 in Houston, Texas, passed away the night of August 4, 2004. The third of five children born to Harry and Annie Shoss, Morris grew up in the tough fifth ward and proved himself an excellent student and athlete. After graduating as top male student from Jefferson Davis High School in 1933, he attended the Rice Institute Rice University pursuing a degree in chemical engineering. In 1936, however, he left Houston after receiving a commission to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and graduated in 1940 as a second lieutenant in the Coast Artillery Corps. Immediately after graduation, he married Flora Gordon of Wharton, Texas on September 22, 1940.

Their honeymoon was his first military assignment to the Philippine Islands, where the young lieutenant served as Executive Officer of Battery C, 91st Coast Artillery, charged with the defense of the Manila and Subic Bay regions. In September 1941, the honeymoon ended abruptly when Flora was evacuated back to the United States in anticipation of the Japanese invasion. His anti-aircraft unit was credited with shooting down the first Japanese planes over the Philippines Islands. Later, with the Japanese army advancing down the island of Luzon, his forces regrouped in the defense of Bataan and later retreated to Corregidor in a last ditch stand against overwhelming enemy forces. Despite a heroic struggle, his coast artillery batteries were destroyed one at a time culminating in the surrender of Corregidor on May 6, 1942. Following his incarceration at Cabanatuan prison camp near Manila, he was sent by boat to Davao penal colony on the island of Mindanao. After two years as a prisoner of war and slave laborer in the rice paddies, enduring horrendous living conditions, he was transferred along with 749 other prisoners to a series of Japanese prison ships assigned to transport them to their final destination in Japan. His convoy was only seventeen days out of port and still hugging the coast to avoid detection when on September 7, 1944 the American submarine, USS Paddle, intercepted it. In the ensuing minutes, multiple ships including his vessel, the Shinyo Maru, were torpedoed. Morris was able to escape before his ship sank. He then survived by swimming out to sea for ten hours despite having been injured by machine-gun fire. He washed ashore over a coral reef on a Japanese held island. Fortunately, he encountered friendly aborigines who nursed him back to health and united him with a band of Filipino resistance fighters. He fought alongside them against the Japanese until being evacuated from the island by the USS Narwhal. The supply submarine transported the survivors of the Shinyo Maru to Australia after which Morris was re-united with his adoring wife Flora. Following his recovery, he embarked upon the next phase of his illustrious military career beginning with an assignment to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where his first child Robert was born in 1945.

Upon returning stateside, Flora gave birth to daughter Maurie Lynn in Wharton, TX during a brief lull in their cross-country trek from Maryland to California. His future assignments led him to many different locations throughout the United States and Europe: the University of California at Berkeley to earn a masters degree in bioradiology; the Chemical Warfare School in Edgewood, MD; the US Naval Academy to study nuclear physics; the US Army Artillery and Missile School in Fort Sill, OK; two tours in Germany, one as troop commander of an artillery battalion and one as Deputy Inspector General of Nuclear Warfare Organizations; and two tours in Washington, D.C., first at the Atomic Energy Commission and then at the Defense Intelligence Agency. He ended his thirty-year Army career at Headquarters, Fourth US Army, Fort Sam Houston. Morris retired from the Army in June 1970 with numerous medals and commendations, including, among others, the Legion of Merit, the Silver Star, two Purple Hearts, one with Oak Leaf Cluster, and two Bronze Stars, one with Valor.

Morris then embarked on his next career, joining the faculty of San Antonio College as chair of the Technical Mathematics Program. Highly respected within his academic community, Morris touched the lives of his many students and taught them how to apply mathematics to their daily lives before retiring from San Antonio College in 1981. Unwilling to sit idle in his senior years, he then began designing and teaching water exercise classes for senior citizens, many of whom suffered from arthritis, heart conditions, or were simply recovering from surgeries. His former students remember his classes fondly and continue to instill in others the same principles of healthy living that Morris inspired in them.

A renowned storyteller, Morris was in great demand for his spellbinding narratives about his war experiences, always recounted with humility, humanity, and humor. He gave numerous interviews to journalists and historians and countless lectures to community high schools, colleges, and civic associations. In June 1987 he was featured in a television documentary "P.O.W.: Americans in Enemy Hands," sponsored by USAA, which aired nationwide. Throughout his life, Morris remained active with a number of P.O.W. and veterans organizations, including the Jewish War Veterans and the West Point Class of 1940 Alumni. He was particularly involved with the Survivors of the Shinyo Maru, whose annual reunion he hosted in San Antonio in 1998 and at whose upcoming September reunion in Kansas City he will be greatly missed. With his wife Flora, Morris kept physically fit, incorporating morning walks and yoga into his daily routine. Morris was also an avid swimmer, participating in many local and regional senior competitions. He even competed in the National Senior Olympics in Baton Rouge in 1993. His drawer full of gold and silver medals was a source of much pride to him and his family. He and Flora embraced their Jewish faith with both the Jewish congregation at Ft. Sam Houston Post Chapel and Temple Beth El. Well into his eighties, Morris continued his search for new knowledge, taking courses, for example, from Oasis, a continuing education center, and the Jewish Community Center.

Morris was preceded in death by his cherished wife, Flora, his sister Minnie Ladin, and his brothers Herman and David Shoss. Morris is survived by his adoring children: son Dr. Robert G. Shoss and his close companion, Denise Duffy of Albany, NY and daughter and son-in-law Maurie Lynn and Paul Haas of McAllen, TX, in addition to his grandchildren: Naomi, Avi and Alitza Shoss, Ron and Daniel Haas, Daniel's wife, Daphna, and Ilan Haas, his precious great-grandson and Denise's son, Kevin Duffy. Morris is also survived by his brother Isadore and wife Nookie Shoss of Houston, sisters-in-law Rosalie Ribnick of San Antonio and Fay Shoss of Houston, brother-in-law Leo Gordon of Dallas, aunts Libby Cohen of Houston and Clara Levine of McAllen, and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews and friends.

Morris will be forever remembered as a war hero, a patriotic icon, a pillar of the community, a brilliant mind, and a deeply compassionate father, brother, uncle, brother-in-law, father-in-law, grandfather, great-grandfather, and friend. In life, Morris was treasured for his radiant smile, boundless energy and optimism, humanity and generosity, his firm sincere handshake, his willingness to give of himself and share his knowledge, and his total commitment to his family and friends. His passing will leave a void, but he will live on in the hearts and minds of many. He is now re-united with his beloved Flora for all eternity.