Thomas Christopher Morrow

1950 - 2017

September 2, 1950 - December 19, 2017 Beloved father and grandfather, devoted son, brother, and friend, gifted artisan, teacher and storyteller, Thomas Christopher Morrow died on Tuesday, December 19 of complications from Multiple Sclerosis which he battled and endured with grace and stoicism for almost 50 years. Tom had been a resident of Rancho Palos Verdes for about 15 years, most of them at the Palos Verdes Villas independent living home. He was 67 when he died at the Heritage Rehabilitation Center in Torrance. He was born in Cambridge, MA, and raised in Barrington, RI, and Garden City, NY. He spent most of his life in the little town of Freedom, NH, where he raised his family and kept his workshop. Tom's life was rich in love and accomplishment; also challenges that would have stopped many. He was a surpassingly gifted gunsmith. In his hands, a block of hardwood would yield its beauty and, soon enough, an heirloom piece would take form. He was also an artist in words, a storyteller of great range, emotion and humor, with a memory that could summon hundreds of tales, from literature, folklore and his own invention, not to mention thousands of lines of verse. The son of Winston V. Morrow, a retired executive now living in Los Angeles, and Margaret S. Morrow, a teacher who lived for many years in Rancho Palos Verdes, Tom entered Williams College with the class of 1972, but his tenure there was interrupted early on by the first devastating onslaught of Multiple Sclerosis. He rallied as he so often would over the disease's long course. After graduating from Williams and then the Colorado School of Trades, he worked for Griffin & Howe, the renowned maker of handcrafted, classic firearms for Abercrombie & Fitch. After Abercrombie sold the business in 1976, Tom opened his own workshop. His talent and reputation drew a far-flung clientele among connoisseurs and collectors. He and his then-wife, Lorraine Bogart Morrow, had two sons: Thomas Christian, born in 1978, and Winston Vaughn Morrow III, born in 1980. Both were then and always his joy and pride, and the stories they shared as a trio tended to high hilarity, liberal profanity, and a shared love of the outdoors. In addition to his sons, Tom is survived by his father; his brother Mark; and his grandchildren: Russell, Maria, Lily, Hadley, Daniel, Abigail, Rosalie, and Snow. Tom is to be buried in Freedom's Towle Cemetery, next to his mother and near his daughter Elizabeth Greer who died in infancy. His life will be celebrated with a Memorial Service in Freedom this spring, on a date to be announced. In lieu of flowers, gifts can be made to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society or to the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests.