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Jack Morrison passed away on Sunday, April 5, 2020 at Hospice House in Bend, Oregon, at the age of 82. He was born in Houston, Texas, on Sept. 27, 1937, to Joseph Everett and Mildred Estell Cox Morrison. The family moved from Texas through Oklahoma following Joe’s job with Stanolind Pipeline Co. and eventually arriving in southern Wyoming in 1942. Jack grew up in company field housing and tank farms outside of Rawlins, Glenrock and finally Elk Basin in 1944. He attended school in Powell, graduating in 1956.
He attended college classes, studying math, science and engineering. In the summer he worked for the U.S. Forest Service clearing trails and building campgrounds in northwest Wyoming.
He married Henrietta Hackert on May 29, 1959, in Powell. The couple had one daughter, Debra. They lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for two years while Jack attended Spartan School of Electronics, graduating in 1965. Accepting a job with Amoco Production, they returned to Wyoming.
In 1975, he started Jack’s Electric, focusing on commercial, industrial and oil field work. With the oil bust of the 1980s, he took a position in Reno, Nevada. Jack worked for several companies doing electrical work in the gold mines and installing alarm systems on Air Force bases. He loved checking out the aircraft and visiting with the pilots.
He would go on to work as an electrical inspector on the Alyeska Pipeline. In 1996, they would make one more move to Bend, Oregon. He was a certified electrical inspector, first working for the State of Oregon and then Deschutes Co. Over his career he held a master electrician license in several states.
Jack taught code classes and mentored all who wanted to learn. He was always there to teach others how to wire their DIY projects. He remained active in ICC, IEEE and IAEI throughout his retirement.
He loved fly fishing, especially in the lakes of the Beartooths. He enjoyed hunting, rock hunting, snowmobiling, golfing and getting together with friends to play games. He took up metal detecting in retirement and belonged to the High Desert Treasure Club and Bend Coin Club.
Jack was a loving husband, father and uncle. He is greatly missed.
He was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers, Robert Wayne Morrison of Texas and Raymond L. Morrison of Wyoming, both dying in infancy. He is survived by his wife Henrietta of Bend; daughter Debra (Tim) Benton of Cody; brother Bill (Lynn) Morrison of Livermore, California; sister-in-law Loretta (Dean) Leffler of Medford, Oregon; and many nieces, nephews and their families.
A celebration of life will be held at a safer time.
