WALTER N. MORRISON

1927 - 2018

MORRISON, Walter N. Walter Nordhoff Morrison, passed away peacefully at his home in Duxbury MA on Mar 23 2018. Born Mar 2 1927 in Pasadena California to Laurence Stillman Morrison and Margaret Nordhoff Morrison, he moved with his family to West Hartford Connecticut at age 2. He leaves his wife of 61 years, Sarah (Wilson) Taylor Morrison; his three sons, Michael, James (Wendy), and Taylor (Page); his grandchildren Taylor (Kate), Alana, Gray, Ethan, and Liam; and two great-grandchildren, Ridley and William. Walter graduated from Phillips Academy, Andover, and Yale University, class of 1950. He served in the US Marine Corps during World War II as a private and again in 1951-52 in Korea as a rifle platoon commander . Upon leaving the Marine Corps Reserve some years later as a Major, he traveled to the West Coast where he tried his hand at ranching and later in Puget Sound he co-founded and ran the Millard and Morrison Logging and Sawmill Company. Despite his family and friends, including his future mother-in-law, calling him a "gypsy wanderer", he defied predictions and returned home to Hartford, Connecticut where he courted and married Sarah Wilson Taylor and begin his career at The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company where he worked for 30 years in investments until 1986, when he retired as Senior VP and Director. Wally never lost his love of nature and adventure and beginning in 1956, he helped develop the Killington Ski Area with Preston Smith and college friend Joseph Sargent, which the three of them ran for 40 years. A lifelong angler, he was active in the environmental field as Treasurer of the Connecticut River Watershed Association and the Farmington River Watershed Association, and as Chairman of the Interstate Commission for the Restoration of Atlantic Salmon in the Connecticut River. In 2002 they retired to the tip of Cape Cod where they improved a summer home which they designed and built in 1979 with the help of their three teenage sons. Overlooking the national seashore from their deck, he wrote two books of memoirs as short stories – Pieces of Eight and More Pieces of Eight. Following his wishes, an informal celebration of his life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Mayhew Program (PO Box 120, Bristol NH  03222) or Cranberry Hospice (26 Cordage Park Circle, Plymouth MA 02360).

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