Carl Ralph Morris, 83, of Grantsville, died Sunday, Aug. 4, 2002, in Camden-clark Memorial Hospital in Parkersburg.
A lifelong resident of Calhoun County, he was born in Grantsville, on Nov. 18, 1918, a son of the late L.J. and Edith Marshall Morris.
He served two separate terms in the U.S. Army during World War II and the Korean Conflict. He served one term as sheriff of Calhoun County. He was a graduate of West Virginia University with a bachelor’s degree in geology and a minor in math.
He was going into his 55th year as an entrepreneur focusing mainly on oil and gas drilling and production, real estate and publishing.
He was still active every day as publisher of the Calhoun Chronicle and president of Calhoun Properties. He was an active member of the Calhoun County Historical Society, the First Baptist Church of Grantsville, the “Geritol Gang,” the WVU Emeritus Club and the West Virginia Press Association. He served on the boards of the Mollohan Foundation and the Glenville State College Foundation.
He was the founding member of the Independent Oil and Gas Association and on the Examiner’s Board for the West Virginia Oil and Gas Inspectors since 1964.
Surviving are his wife of 47 years, Helen Rampp Morris; seven children, Carleen Dixon of Washington, D.C., Barbara (and Jim) Full of Parkersburg, Joe (and Sandy) Morris of Seneca, Pa., Bob (and Jenny) Morris of South Charleston, Bill (and Kendi) Morris of Gallipolis, Ohio, Jim (and Lynn Gilbert) Morris of Grantsville, and Sarah (and Todd) Rhodes of Hickory, N.C.; 14 grandchildren, Matthew Dixon, Stan and Geoff Whitaker, Lucas, Drue and Aren Morris, Steven, Katie and Susanna Morris, Will and Rachel Morris, Michelle, Emily and Rebecca Rhodes.
Preceding him in death were his first wife, Myrtha McCartney Morris in 1951; his brother, Donald W. Morris; and his sister, Bernice Morris Stamp.
Visitation will be held at Stump Funeral Home in Grantsville today from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Services will be held at the First Baptist Church of Grantsville Thursday at 2 p.m. with the Rev. Jim Skedell and the Rev. Dr. Phil Smith officiating. A reception will immediately follow at the First Baptist Church of Grantsville. Memorials may be made to the First Baptist Church of Grantsville, PO Box 237, Grantsville, The Calhoun County Historical Society, PO Box 242, Grantsville, or Glenville State College Foundation, 200 High St., Glenville.
