Thank you all very much for your kind thoughts and prayers.
Captain Stanley Stewart Morris Jr., USMC (retired), was buried in his Marine Corps dress uniform with full military honors (Marine Corps pallbearers, flag-draped coffin, 21 gun salute) in the family cemetery out in the woods behind his house. I have never heard so much power and emotion put into a simple tune as by the trumpet player who played "Taps". That really "got" me.
After the ceremony as we were leaving the cemetery, one of Stewart's friends, a bagpiper in full Scottish regalia, marched to where the casket was waiting to be lowered and played "Scotland the Brave", one of Stewart's favorite tunes, as a final farewell.
There were several potential, even likely, family conflicts that could easily have arisen and none of them materialized nor look likely to do so. Again, thank you all for your kind thoughts and prayers - I think they worked.
I hope to be back home, online, and catching up by next Wednesday. This is being sent from a public library, and I will soon have to return to the courthouse to continue doing some research for the succession.
Duke
p.s. I'm posting his picture and obit here, as I don't know how long it will stay up on the newspaper's website. I'd like to have them on my forum somewhere and this seems like the place. The photo is pre-1966; he was burned pretty badly in a mid-air collision that year.
MORRIS Captain Stanley Stewart Morris, Jr., USMC (retired), age 82, resident of Clinton, Louisiana, died on Sunday, May 23, 2010 at Lane Regional Medical Center in Zachary, Louisiana. He passed with his wife and son at his side. Stewart Morris was born on September 11, 1927, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Stanley Stewart Morris, Sr., and Elizabeth Wall Morris. His siblings were Elizabeth and William Morris. Stewart Morris attended New Orleans Academy school in New Orleans. He graduated from Tulane University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology in 1951. Stewart Morris served in the United States Marine Corps from 1951 through 1974 as a pilot of numerous fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. He also served as a flight instructor at home and as a ground-based Forward Air Controller in Viet Nam. He retired with the rank of Captain, and during his military career served three extended tours in Viet Nam and received over a dozen medals and commendations including the Air Medal with Bronze Star and Presidential Unit Citation. Stewart Morris married Marion O'Niell February 21, 1963, and they had a son named Stanley Stewart Morris III, in 1965. Stewart Morris was an avid practitioner of martial arts, attaining the rank of 3rd degree black belt in Judo and 2nd degree black belt in Karate. Stewart enjoyed working with animals and they enjoyed him, and always owned several dogs. He raised Morgan horses, some of which competed successfully in horse shows. He would go to extreme lengths to give a sick or injured animal every possible chance of recovery. Stewart Morris is survived by his wife, Marion Morris, as well as by his son Stanley Stewart Morris III and wife Claudia, and step-son Francis LeJeune and wife Lori. Also surviving are his sister Elizabeth Williams. Predeceasing Stewart is his brother William Winans Wall Morris. Private Services were held on Wednesday the 26th of May 2010, and Stewart was buried with Full Military Honors, including a Marine Corps Color Guard, a 21-gun salute and the playing of Taps at the family cemetery in Clinton, Louisiana. Stewart Morris was a man of courage and integrity, and it is an honor to have been in his family or among his friends. Semper Fi.
http://obits.nola.com/obituaries/nola/obituary.aspx?n=stanley-stewart-morris&pid=143272330
