Willard Charles "Bill" Morrey Jr.

Willard Charles Morrey Jr., known as Bill, passed away peacefully at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Mishawaka, IN on June 17, 2024, at the age of 80, surrounded by his surviving family: his wife, Jayne (Blessing) Riley, and his daughters, Kathleen (Richard Riley) Crowder of Lake Zurich, IL, and Bridget Morrey of South Bend, IN. He also leaves behind his brothers John (Lorraine) Morrey of Mokena, IL, Kevin (Beth) Morrey of Lowell, IN, and Tim (Karen) Morrey of Greenville, SC. Bill was preceded in death by his parents Willard and Mary Jane (Carr) Morrey and his first wife, Marcia (McDermott) Morrey.
Bill was born March 24, 1944, at a naval base in North Carolina, but the family soon settled in the south suburbs of Chicago, IL. The first signs that Bill might follow in his father's footsteps as an attendee and fan of the University of Notre Dame (South Bend, IN) was when he would jump around in his playpen singing, "It's Saturday! It's Saturday! Notre Dame, football game! Notre Dame, football game!"
Bill excelled in sports, academics, and debate at Mendel Catholic High School in south suburban Roseland. While in high school, Bill also worked at the Jewel supermarket and earned a scholarship from Jewel that sent him to attend college at his beloved University of Notre Dame, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in physics.
He married Marcia McDermott in 1969, adding daughter Kathleen to the family on a Notre Dame football game day Saturday, timing he always enjoyed pointing out. Starting out in the Chicago suburbs, Bill leveraged his education and intelligence combing the country for the best place to raise a family. They moved to Boston first and added daughter Bridget to the family, then moved to New Jersey and then to Florida. His career included roles as a nuclear engineer at EBASCO and Jersey Power and Light, after which Bill moved his family to Palm City, Florida to build the largest segment of his career as an aerospace engineer at Pratt & Whitney, a United Technologies company. He was able to leverage his work in non-destructive engine testing for not only two patents, "Detecting cracks in non-uniform areas of metal parts including position correlation," and "Method and apparatus for providing compensation for variations in probe-surface separation in non-contact eddy current inspection systems," but also his dissertation for his Ph.D. in Physics from Florida Atlantic University, "Massively parallel molecular dynamics simulation of crack initiation and growth in a copper-nickel alloy." After receiving his doctorate, Dr. Morrey was invited to give a guest lecture at Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland), both a professional honor and an opportunity for him and Marcia to travel to the birth country of many of their ancestors.
His professional career was cut short by health problems, and he had to retire from Pratt and Whitney at the age of 54. He took great pride in his daughters' academic accomplishments, sending them both to the University of Notre Dame for undergraduate school. Subsequently, they obtained master's degrees at Notre Dame and other institutions, which Bill made sure to include when introducing his daughters to others.
After a driving tour of the southeastern US to find the town with the best and prettiest library, Bill and Marcia retired to the foothills of North Carolina in Elkin. There they volunteered for the community's meal delivery program and were valued patrons at the Elkin Public Library. Bill converted his basement into a workshop where he spent many hours pursuing his passion for woodworking. Bill's mother Mary Jane moved to Elkin in her later years and the three could be found golfing together.
After a long illness, which was punctuated by an equally long period of remission, Bill's wife Marcia passed away. A chance reconnection had him exchanging emails, and then long-distance calls, with a former girlfriend from half a century past. Jayne (Blessing) Riley became the second Mrs. Morrey not soon thereafter, and they had the opportunity to spend four years together, fulfilling Bill's dream of moving to South Bend, the home of Notre Dame. Together they attended Notre Dame men's and women's basketball and hockey, became members of the Notre Dame Snite Museum, and even planned to attend a Notre Dame football game in Dublin, Ireland. Bill's less active pursuits, rekindled by the Covid pandemic, included reading books, watching sports and murder mysteries, doing crosswords, and working on jigsaw puzzles, the last of which sadly remains unfinished.
Bill will be laid to rest in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Alsip, IL alongside his wife Marica with a graveside memorial at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, June 28. Friends and family are welcome. There will also be a memorial luncheon following the service at Maiz & Barro Mexican Grill in Oak Forest. In lieu of memorial flowers, please consider making a donation to your local public library, the Elkin Public Library (by check payable to Elkin Public Library, sent to 111 North Front St., Elkin NC 28621) or the St. Joe County Public Library Foundation www.sjcpl.org/donate. There will always be more books to read.
Palmer Funeral Home - Hickey Chapel is assisting the family with arrangements.
Online condolences may be shared with the family at www.palmerfuneralhomes.com.