We'll Miss You, Allen Morris!

Stroud resident Allen K. Morris died Saturday, January 20, 2001 in Tulsa. He was 77.

Wake services were held at the Parks Chapel in Stroud on Tuesday, January 23 with funeral services held on Wednesday, January 24, also at the Parks Chape with Rev. Duane Pratt officiating. Burial was in the Stroud Cemetary under the direction of the Parks Funeral Home of Stroud.

Morris was born November 28, 1923 in Shawnee, Oklahoma to Grover and Clara (Falls) Morris. He has been a resident of Stroud since 1976.

Allen Morris and Elizabeth Mae Wamego married in Kansas on February 1, 1946. He served in the US Navy and was a member of the American Legion Poast 1118 of Cushing. He was a retired minister and a member of the Only Way Baptist Church and Cushing Indian Mission Church.

He was preceded in death by his parents, four brothers and four sisters.

Survivors include his wife, Elizabeth, of the home; two sons Zack Morris of Shawnee and Tim Morris of Yuba City, California; one brother William Verl Morris os Sasakwa; two sisters Viola Pruitt and Alice Grant of Stroud; five grandchildren, four greatgrandchildren and other relatives and friends.

A PERSONAL NOTE:

Allen Morris was a great friend to the Wahpecome family. His brother Sam introduced my parents to each other in Shawnee, Oklahoma. We visited with their family often, twice in the San Francisco Bay area where he was ministering to the Indian community.

I'll never forget how kind both Allen and Mae were. When my family moved to Subic Bay, Philappines, Allen and Mae drove us to Travis Air Force Base to catch the MAC flight overseas. They had a really warm, cozy home in Alameda -- and I remember watching that old sci-fi movie "The Andromeda Strain" on TV while yakking with my folks and enjoying their fireplace.

Funny, the stuff you remember when you're a kid!

I drove my Mom and Dad from San Diego to Stroud. As many of you know, the I-40 during wintertime is not a pretty place! There was snow and ice from Flagstaff, Arizona all the way to Amarillo, Texas. We arrived in Stroud, only to see our cousin David running for a bucket of ice. Our Aunt Olelah, cousin John Morris and David hosted us that night. We were joined in the morning by our family from Tulsa, Susie Alford, her daughters Janene, Diane and Yvonne. Yvonne's husband Dwayne Cawee had just buried his father the day before...so it was little sad in our corner of the world. Yvonne's children Daniel and Tia (she's the host of the Arigon Starr fan club on Yahoo) were there, as was Ray W. Other family was the eldest of the Morris boys, Sam and his son Brian, who had traveled to the services from Stillwell.

Both the wake and funeral services were PACKED! My family's favorite story was one from Allen's son, Zack, who had tried his darndest to have the hospital nursing staff in Oklahoma be a little kinder and let more folks visit Allen in ICU. As they discussed the many options to save Allen's life (he suffered a heart attack), the nurse went over the many way to replace the faulty valve in his heart. "We can insert a mechanical valve, use some kind of graft -- or perhaps use a valve from a pig's heart to help him." Zack very seriously said to the nurse," No. I'm sorry, I just won't let you put a pig's valve in my father's heart. I can't let you do that." The nurse was shocked and said, "But, it's to save your father's life!" Zack replied," Okay, if we do that, what happens when we get my father home and he craves corn? What will my mother do?" The nurse was a bit perplexed as Zack continued, "What if my mother comes home and finds him rolling in the mud?" Zack smiled -- and the ice with the nursing staff was finally broken. Many people (including my Tulsa family) visited Allen before he passed away. I'm pretty sure he knew how loved he was.