Bill Morrison

William Pinkney Morrison, Jr., also known as "Bill, Pink, and Poppa Pink" passed from this life on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Chandler, Texas. A graveside service will be conducted by Hannigan Smith Funeral Home at Blackjack Cemetery on July 11, 2025 at 10:00 a.m.
Bill was born on April 1, 1937, in Henderson County to Bud and Henrietta Morrison. During his early years Bill's family lived in Athens, Texas, then later moved to the community of Blackjack, just a few miles south of Murchison. Bill was the first of four children, having two brothers, John and Mike, and one sister, Sue. The Blackjack Community where the family lived was always Bill's true home.
In July 1965 Bill married Janie Shields Venable. He also adopted Janie's son, Galen. A few years later Bill and Janie adopted their second son, Bennie. Over the course of time, the family lived in Malakoff, Athens, and Tyler. As Bill and Janie settled into retirement, they moved back to the family farm in Blackjack.
During his life Bill worked for the City of Athens Water Department, Borden's Milk Company, Kelly-Springfield Tire Company, Morrison Machine Company, and Cable's Milk/Southwestern Dairy, which was purchased and eventually became the dairy operations center for Brookshire's Grocery Company. Bill was instrumental in the early development and production of Brookshire's Golden Brook Ice Cream, as well as helping facilitate Brookshire's bagged ice and bottled water production facilities. He retired from Brookshire's Grocery Company in 2002.
Despite the regular jobs Bill had during his life, his most loved vocation was farming. He accepted the title of "Sodbuster" as a true compliment and calling. Whether in a vacant lot in Tyler, where he grew a vegetable garden every year or his more ambitious larger crops and orchards at the farm in Blackjack, Bill kept Janie busy canning every kind of produce you can imagine. Together and with the help of Bennie, Bill and Janie grew and sold many watermelons and cracked hundreds of pounds of pecans over the years. Under Bill's tutelage, the soil at Blackjack grew some of the best watermelons and pecans you ever tasted.
Bill was a 1955 graduate of Brownsboro High School, where he was captain of the football team and he enjoyed being involved in Future Farmers of America. During his senior year Bill was the first Brownsboro Bear football player to wear a facemask attached to his helmet. The facemask became necessary because Bill had broken his jaw in a previous game. His coach constructed a facemask of chicken wire, which caused more damage scratching Bill's face than protecting his jaw. Bill said by the end of the first quarter he had to pull the facemask off his helmet and finish the game with an exposed broken jaw. Forever a Red Raider, Bill continued his education, graduating from Texas Tech University in 1961 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Dairy Science and earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture from East Texas State University in 1959.
Always a quiet soul, those of us who knew Bill best were aware of his funny sense of humor. He often provided quick wit commentaries while watching movies with Stephen, and we sometimes didn't know whether to laugh or cringe at the trouble he often got into joking with Janie. Either way, he kept us all laughing and entertained. His sense of humor will be greatly missed.
A favorite memory of Bill's was him planting seeds and a young Kailey walking behind him, stepping on the dirt to pack the seeds, as to provide cover for them to grow. He was proud that Kailey followed his footsteps by being a part of Brownsboro FFA both as a student and a teacher.
Some of the sweetest memories were made as Stephen, Kailey, and Ashley carved jack-o'-lanterns together at the farm during Halloween, gathered for Thanksgiving feasts, and celebrated Christmas as a family. Bill cherished every moment spent with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren-those times brought him so much joy and pride.
Bill was always good to take in a stray or lost cat. He often trained these adopted felines to become what he referred to as "Champion Lap Cats". Through the years he took in dozens of cats for this purpose.
The family farm at Blackjack was Bill's Mecca. From the time he left for college until his retirement, Bill yearned to return to "Blackjack" and his "Sodbuster" ways to raise watermelons, grow vegetable gardens, manage his pecan orchard and fend off numerous crows and critters that tried to purge his gardens and crops.
Bill was preceded in death by his father, William P. "Bud" Morrison, Sr., mother, Henrietta Morrison, and grandson, Stephen Morrison.
He is survived by his wife of sixty years, Janie Morrison of Blackjack; son Galen Morrison and wife Tina of Chandler, son Bennie Morrison of Blackjack; granddaughters, Kailey Boyd and husband Jake of Chandler, and Ashley Morrison of Greenville, Texas. Bill is also survived by three great grandchildren (Haiven, Jacoby and Blakley), three siblings, many nephews, nieces and a few lap cats.
It is requested that memorials be made in Bill's memory to the Brownsboro Young Farmers (supporting the FFA), Hospice of East Texas or the charity of your choice.