Robert Reed Morse

Robert Reed Morse Robert Reed Morse, born March 7, 1921, Cambridge, Massachusetts and lived in suburban Boston. His father, Herbert, was an enterprising businessman and manufacturer. His mother, Mary, was a full time homemaker and active volunteer with several charities. And a younger brother, Willard, made up the immediate family. He studied Chemical Engineering at Syracuse University for two years, one year at MIT in Business and Chemical Engineering, and years later (1961) graduated from Syracuse University with a major in Philosophy. He later (1967) graduated from Colgate-Rochester Divinity School with an MDiv degree. After a little more than two years of military service (Navy) in WWII and married to Grace Port (Morse) he became father to Philip now of Kennebunkport, Maine, married to Amy, parents to Alicia and Alexander; Judith Arseneau, now of Dunedin, Florida and married to Georges; Andrew now of Hudson, Ohio, married to Anne, parents to William, Nathaniel and Thaddeus. After nearly three years of bachelorhood, he married Barbara Young (now Morse) of Oswego, NY, mother of two sons: William, formerly of Ithaca, NY (died 2006) with daughter Katherine and a second son Douglas in Austin, TX married to Ewa with two daughters, Hannah (by a prior marriage) and Oksana. This extended family has been wonderful in so many ways. They are many different and individually creative personalities. But most of all, they have been a family unit all of whom have been a great joy and an important part of his life in uncountable ways. Bob had a three part career, first as a sales engineer in Upstate NY in air conditioning and industrial air systems (about 20 years), pastor mainly in Upstate NY with one year in England with the United Methodist Church (20 years), and thirdly as an insurance agent in NY State and Texas which began in 1984, a year after retiring from the pastoral ministry. He retired from insurance in 2007. Through it all there was a desire to contribute something of value. That this may have happened in some measure was why he loved working as much as he did. Barbara, an elementary school teacher, and Bob were married in Ithaca, NY in 1977. Barbara then became a pastor's wife as well as teacher for six years in Upstate NY. After Bob retired, they lived for six months in San Miguel de Allende, Gto, Mexico moving to Texas in 1984. They lived in Marble Falls for four years, back to New York for three years, and have been in Austin since December of 1991. They are both active at Central Presbyterian Church in downtown Austin (1999) where, since 2005, he has been a teacher of an adult class.