James Dale Morris

Born 9-25-62 Beeville, Bee, TX where his father was on active duty at Naval Air Auxiliary Chase Air Field. JDM and parents returned to Lincoln NE January 1963 when father’s active duty ended. Jim attended Merle Beattie, Holmes, Saratoga elementary schools, Pound Jr High, Lincoln High. In third grade, he successfully received special help in reading at Holmes, in the Orton Gillingham Method due to his Dyslexia. He was very grateful for this help, and wished that other children he knew could have received this help also, as he has watched them struggle to find good jobs as adults. He attended Milford Trade School in the Machine Shop, to become a machinist. He later worked for a Lincoln business using the skills he learned at Milford making molds.

Jim also enjoyed leisure activities such as hiking & biking in Wilderness Park, tried his skills with cross country skiing, played chess & cribbage, riding his motorcycle, pottery making, fishing, one season shot trap at Izaak Walton Club, in the Jr’s group, He was a child model for Western Power & Gas Co magazine in several page article at the Lincoln Children’ Zoo in the mid-1960’s, as son of employee Saundra. He enjoyed YMCA day camping as a young child, then later YMCA camping overnight under the stars. Three years most unusual vacations at his Morris grandparents’ home. The their historic home, was located inside the walls of Historic National cemeteries in states of Virginia, Kentucky, and Arkansas (in 1960’s 1970’s), where Jim D. learned about the history of the soldiers who gave their lives in the Civil War, WWI, and WWII and history behind several of the more unusual monuments within these cemeteries. It left a lasting impression on him. It was a great learning experience. He visited a historic battlefield, and places in Washington DC, but probably did not remember as much about these places as he did the cemeteries. His Grandpa Lt. Colonel Retired Jack A Morris, was Supt of these three cemeteries and assistant Supt at cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.

Jim was a curious child and wanted to learn about a lot of things. His Great-uncle Lester H. Christiansen of Lincoln NE, taught him to speak “something” in Danish as a young child. It wasn’t until later we learned this group of words” was the Danish names of our fingers, which is one of the first things a Danish grandparent teaches the grandchildren. Jim liked to say them quickly in Danish, (before he even knew what they meant), as his silly first name, and he had another silly saying for what he would say for his last name, from a book “Long Name No Can Say”. This always got the strangers attention, and a laugh.

He learned that he could cheer himself and others up, and out of a foul mood by humor, also listening to music. So he often would tell clean jokes or riddles. He had a large CD collection and enjoyed collecting them and listening to Eagles music on FM station. He had purchased his nice stereo set and could listen to concerts from TV. He could not see the picture on his very large TV, but enjoyed the colors on screen, After he lost most of his sight in 2006, and was declared legally blind, [What you and I see at 400 feet he needed to be within 20 feet, and we think this probably got worse as the years continued.] Telling jokes was a way to determine what mood the other person was in, when he could not see their facial features. He addressed persons by Sir or Ma’am, as he couldn’t tell their sex by sight, and determined if they wore dress they were probably a lady, otherwise they were a Sir, but without seeing facial feature and hearing voices he really didn’t know. Some people thought he was trying to be a smart aleck.

Early in his life, he met a young lady and they were married for 18 years, before they divorced, and there were no children. Jim continued to care deeply about her, but never saw or heard from her after that day. He would ask about her a couple times a year, and we would reply we hoped she is doing okay and happy somewhere. It took Jim to age 60 to wake up and say “I was a real jerk Mom, I could have been a better husband and helped her around the house, by doing the dishes, laundry, and cleaning while she was at work”. I think he saw how much help his father had been around our home after he retired. At the end of Jim’s life he said he was so happy his dad was strict, and taught him how to handle a gun safely and with respect, he also learned “if it isn’t yours don’t touch it” he told his mother. Jim passed away April 28, 2024 at Emerald Nursing-Brookside Rehab in Lincoln, and inurnment is still pending but will be at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery. He is survived by his mother, Saundra Dale Morris. He was predeceased by his father James Wm Morris who passed March 3, 2023.

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