Bernard Ellis Morris

Bernard Ellis Morris was born on July 25, 1935, in San Antonio, Texas, and died serenely with his wife by his side on June 22, 2025, at his home in Oregon City, Oregon. He served in the US Marine Corps from 1954 to 1958 in San Diego, California. While serving in the Marines, he took college classes at San Diego Junior College. From there, he transferred to the University of California in Berkeley where he earned his doctorate in English literature in 1973. From 1972 to 2003 he taught English at Modesto Junior College in Modesto, California. He was a prolific writer of prose and poetry. His poems appeared in literary magazines, and he published essays on a variety of works, ranging from the sonnets of Shakespeare to the fiction of James Dickey. Many of his essays appeared in Harvard Review. He is the author of two published books: a grammar review and a review of the poetry of X.J. Kennedy entitled “Taking Measure”.

Bernard enjoyed nature, poetry, music, long walks, crossword puzzles, motorcycles, and traveling with his wife. He loved life, his family, and his friends.

He is survived by his wife of 27 years, Silvana Morris, stepchildren Adriana Gantzer and Daniel (Courtney) Paddock, grandchildren Vix and Nolan Gantzer and Quinn Paddock, sister-in-law Rosemary Morris, daughter Georgiana Morris, and our beloved kitties Emma and Lucy Belle.

He is preceded in death by his father Edward Leroy Morris, mother Doris Josephine Lanier, stepfather Malcolm (Mutt) Lanier, brothers Leroy and Harry Morris, stepsister Jean Lanier, and our beloved cat Kitty.

His ashes will rest at Willamette National Cemetery in Happy Valley, Oregon. The date of the military services is to be determined.

If you wish to honor him, read a favorite poem or book, hug a tree, pet a kitty cat, ride a motorcycle, run along a canal bank, do anything that makes you happy.

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden, a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson