William Morris

MORRIS William E.L. Morris went to be with the Lord 12 Jan 2016. He was born on 13 December 1931 in Reno Nevada to Bernyce McDuffee and Elmer L. Field. He grew up in Miami and married his high school sweetheart, Barbara Winkelman. William was, a Rocket Scientist in the VERY REAL sense of the term. It all started as a teenager in Miami, he was into electronics engineering in its earliest of days. He set up and was a DJ for live radio broadcasts for many of the big jazz band performances at venues on Miami Beach. He piloted multiple aircraft types for the Florida Civil Air Patrol. He built WTVJ channel 4 in Miami. He joined the Naval Reserve and repaired radios for the famous Flying Tiger squadron which trained at Opa Locka airport. Then he joined North American Aviation and entered the Space Race before President Kennedy coined the phrase. At North American he went down range into the Bahama Islands to build and operate radio and radar tracking facilities for the Air Force. In Anaheim California, he helped build the Apollo spacecraft and then followed the command modules to Titusville FL, and The Cape, for testing and launch. As a Senior Test Site Engineer for Apollo he was known around the Cape as Moose Morris a nickname earned down range. Before his 38th birthday Moose and a few thousand of his friends sent Apollo 11 with Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Mike Collins roaring off to a landing and walk on the moon on July 20, 1969. Then his life became normal and he moved back to Miami and he ran the TV production studio for Miami-Dade Community College. William is survived by his sons Carl (Mary Lou), James (Tamara), and Steve (Lori); grand children, Stephanie, Christopher, Sarah, Carolin and Andrew; great grand children, Mason, Vivienne and Bennett. A private memorial service will be held. Please visit our online Tribute at www.quinn-shalz.com. Services under the direction and care of Quinn-Shalz Family Funeral Home

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