Father Gordon Lee Morrison

Published 3:39 pm Thursday, March 21, 2013

Easton:

The Rev. Gordon Lee Morrison, of Easton, Maryland passed away on Tuesday, March 19, 2013, from complications following an automobile accident. He was 73.

Born on March 16, 1940, in Princeton, Indiana, Gordon was the son of the late Leland and Ruth Morrison. After graduating from Indiana University with a BA in Philosophy in 1960, Gordon struck out to see the world. He served briefly as a youth minister in Union City, TN while attending the Cumberland Presbyterian Seminary in nearby Martin. But when the seminary moved to Memphis, he volunteered for the Peace Corps and served in Iran from 1964 to 1966. While training new Peace Corps Volunteers in the Florida Keys, Gordon met Returned Guatemala Volunteer Lynda Sanderford, and they were married 90 days later in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. They spent their first year together in Derby Hollow, Virginia where Gordon worked with rural community development for the Methodist Church and preached as a circuit rider on Sundays. Gordon then returned to Iran with Lynda and they worked in Isfahan, Iran as missionaries of the Episcopal Church for three years.

A tireless steward of God’s creation, Gordon received an MS in Environmental Education and Parks Administration from Indiana University in Bloomington, IN, and was a Parks Administrator in both Minneapolis, Minnesota and the Chicago area in the 1970s.

But Gordon’s Christian faith drew him back to formal ministry. He received his Master of Divinity from The University of the South in Sewanee, TN in 1984, and was ordained to the priesthood. Over the past 25 years, he has been the rector at several Episcopal parishes: St. Stephen’s in Eutaw, Alabama; St. Paul’s in Selma, Alabama; St. John’s and St. Barnabas in Odessa, TX; and for ten years at St. Paul’s in Henderson, KY. More recently, he served as Assistant Rector at Christ Church in Easton, MD, and after a partial retirement, worked at St. Peter’s in Salisbury, MD and St. Paul’s in Trappe, MD.

Father Morrison’s exuberant embrace of life and extroverted personality made him the center of attention at practically every gathering. He was a beloved leader of the many congregations he served. Gordon was also an intrepid traveler, avid reader, and deep thinker about the theological connections between Christianity and Islam. He is missed dearly by his family, with whom he was exceptionally close, as well as by friends and the many people he served as a priest.

Also known as “BawBaw”, Gordon is survived by his wife Lynda, also of Easton Maryland; his son Gregory Morrison, currently in Dublin, Ireland with wife Elizabeth and their sons Gabriel, Luke, and John; his son Christopher Morrison, who with his wife Rachel and daughters Ada Jane and Margaret Ruth live in Washington, DC; and sisters Rita Knight and Joan Bailey, both of Oakland City, IN.

The family will receive friends at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Main St. in Trappe, MD from 4:00 to 6:00PM on Sunday, March 24, 2013. A vigil will continue at St. Paul’s until 8:00 PM. A funeral service will be held at 10:00AM on Monday, March 25, 2013 at Christ Church, 111 S. Harrison St., Easton, MD 21601. Burial will be in White Marsh Cemetery on Route 50 in Trappe, MD.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Gordon’s honor can be made to the Izaak Walton League at www.iwla.org, or to Episcopal Relief and Development at www.er-d.org.

Arrangements are being handled by Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home, P.A., 200 S. Harrison St. Easton, MD 21601.

For online condolences, please visit www.fhnfuneralhome.com