Local sports icon, Howard Morris, passes at 81
By STEVE MATTHIES, Klamath
Falls Herald &News sports editor, July 20, 2017
One of Oregon Tech’s true icons, Howard Morris, died Monday at the age
of 81.
“We talk about being an Oregon Tech Guy,” former
colleague Danny Miles said, “and Howard might be the original.”
“I think Danny’s right,” former OIT president
Chris Maples said.
“So many things go through my mind when I hear
his name,” longtime dean of students Tim Stanaway said. “He was a good person
with young people. Patient. He made sure kids worked hard. He was that kind of
person who really enjoyed what he was doing.
“Whenever you saw Howard Morris, you thought
about OIT.”
Morris, an All-American football player at
Linfield College, was inducted into several halls of fame. His football number
was retired by Linfield. He coached at Linfield, and coached wrestling and
football at Tigard High School before he moved to Klamath Falls.
His presence went beyond OIT.
“What a good man,” local rodeo announcer Scott
Allen said on Facebook.
“I came (to Klamath Falls 27 years ago) for a
job. I didn’t know a single soul. I was broke and homesick. Howard would call
me every couple of weeks and say: ‘Come on up to the college today and I’ll buy
you a bowl of chili.’
“He might of thought I was starving, but I
really think he was just a good guy trying to give a kid a break.
“Sometimes God sends you a friend when you
really, really need one,” Allen wrote. “He sent Howard Morris my way, and for
that I am grateful.”
Morris, along with Miles, Don Gresdel and Erik
Baker, also was among the early co-owners of the Klamath Falls Gems college-wood
team.
“He was one of the ones who treated us with so
much respect through everything (in our time in Klamath Falls),” Chuck Heeman,
the first general manager of the Gems, said when he heard of Morris’ passing.
“Very sad news.”
At OIT, Morris did about everything.
He was head football coach, assistant football
coach, head wrestling coach, assistant wrestling coach, head baseball coach and
served as athletic director from 1972-92.
Howard was the first Cascade Collegiate
Conference commissioner, a position he held from 1992 until 2003 when he
retired.
“When I took over (as athletic director), he was
one of the guys who met with me the first week and was a great mentor,” Mike
Schell said. “He offered me advice. He’s the person who reached out to me, and
was a great resource for me.”
Former sports information director Bobby
Thompson, who still does OIT basketball play-by-play, said: “He was the force
behind athletics (at OIT). It’s a loss. He did so much for the school.”
“He had such a knowledge of athletics, but also
what OIT is about,” Maples said. “He’ll be sorely missed. He was such an
institution. He got athletics off the right way, doing things the right way. We
all owe Howard a debt of gratitude for developing what the student-athlete
experience at OIT is.”
Stanway said he remembers Howard and the OIT
wrestling program finding whatever space it could for practice.
Howard was instrumental in bringing the only
NAIA national championship event to be hosted by Oregon Tech — the 1972
wrestling tournament.
His Hall of Fame honors include Linfield
College, NAIA and the Oregon chapter of the national wrestling Hall of Fame. He
also received OIT’s meritorious service award.
Howard and his wife Ginger, who recently
celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary, were serious boosters of OIT and, in
2004, established a scholarship for a worthy student-athlete who demonstrated
outstanding citizenship and character, inspirational leadership skills and
could be described as a team player.
“He was dedicated to OIT,” Stanaway said.
“He was such a mild-mannered guy. Kind. Had
integrity. A man you felt easy talking to,” Miles said. “He was man you felt
always had your back. He was kind of like a second father to me when I came to
Oregon Tech when I was 23 years old. He was a guy I could go to.”
“Howard was an endearing person and well
respected among (Cascade Collegiate Conference) members and within the NAIA as
a true lead in intercollegiate athletes,” current conference commissioner Rob
Cashell said in a press release.”
Morris is survived by his wife, five children,
10 grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
