| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, The Texas legal community lost one of its giants |
|
|
with the passing of Starling Thomas Morris of Amarillo on October 4, |
|
|
2021, at the age of 101; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Born in Penelope on November 12, 1919, Tom Morris |
|
|
was the second son of James L. Morris and Alice B. Morris; he grew up |
|
|
in Maypearl and attended North Texas Agricultural College and The |
|
|
University of Texas Law School before World War II interrupted his |
|
|
education; called up by the U.S. Navy Air Corps, he served with Air |
|
|
Group 80 and flew the SB2C Helldiver and F6F Hellcat fighter from |
|
|
the USS Ticonderoga and the USS Hancock; he also piloted an F4U-4 |
|
|
Corsair fighter-bomber in preparation for the attack on Japan; |
|
|
along the way, he survived a midair collision that led to six months |
|
|
in a hospital; he attained the rank of lieutenant senior grade |
|
|
before his discharge; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Mr. Morris returned to UT Law, where he was an |
|
|
editor of the Texas Law Review and a member of Chancellors and Order |
|
|
of the Coif; upon graduation in 1946, he was elected to the faculty, |
|
|
and he taught the school's first course on legal argument and |
|
|
writing; in addition, he taught the torts class in a separate law |
|
|
school that the university established for Black scholars; he began |
|
|
practicing in Harlingen in 1948, and the following year, he moved to |
|
|
Amarillo, where he joined the firm of Gibson, Ochsner, and Adkins, |
|
|
as it was eventually known; upon its dissolution in 2003, he became |
|
|
a shareholder in the Underwood Law Firm, and he continued to |
|
|
practice there for the rest of his life; he was a generous mentor to |
|
|
younger attorneys over the years; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Among numerous accomplishments, Mr. Morris won a |
|
|
landmark Supreme Court case, Graham v. Deere, which established the |
|
|
law of non-obvious subject matter in patent cases; the decision has |
|
|
been cited in more than 30,000 cases and legal articles and was |
|
|
reaffirmed by the highest court three times in recent years; he |
|
|
successfully argued a long list of cases before the Texas Supreme |
|
|
Court, the Texas Courts of Appeals, and the United States Court of |
|
|
Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; admired for his ethics and |
|
|
collegiality, as well as for his brilliance, he was named a Fellow |
|
|
of the Texas Bar Foundation and the American College of Trial |
|
|
Lawyers; his myriad accolades included the Texas Legal Legend Award |
|
|
from the Litigation Section of the State Bar of Texas, the Chief |
|
|
Justice Charles L. Reynolds Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Tom |
|
|
Arnold Lifetime Achievement Award from the Intellectual Property |
|
|
Section of the State Bar; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, While the law was a source of endless fascination to |
|
|
Mr. Morris, he was devoted above all to his treasured family; he |
|
|
shared a fulfilling marriage of 68 years with his wife, Estella |
|
|
Garnett Morris, until her passing in 2011, and he took great pride |
|
|
in their two daughters, Linda and Vicki, and three granddaughters, |
|
|
Skye, Autumn, and Aureóle; in his free time, he was an avid golfer, |
|
|
and he achieved a single-digit handicap and scored five holes in |
|
|
one; he served as president of the Texas Tri-State Senior Golf |
|
|
Association and played in its tournament for many years, and he was |
|
|
twice the recipient of the Colonel Bogey Award; the Amarillo |
|
|
Country Club recognized him for six decades of work to improve its |
|
|
golf course, and a plaque was placed at the Starter's Shack honoring |
|
|
his contributions; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Although Tom Morris is deeply missed, he leaves |
|
|
behind a remarkable professional legacy, as well as numerous |
|
|
friends and loved ones whose lives are far richer for having known |
|
|
him; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 87th Texas |
|
|
Legislature, 3rd Called Session, hereby pay tribute to the memory |
|
|
of Starling Thomas Morris and extend sincere condolences to the |
|
|
members of his family: to his daughters, Linda Lee Willard and Vicki |
|
|
Rey Fineran; to his granddaughters, Skye, Autumn, and Aureóle |
|
|
Fineran; to his sister, Alice Beth Willis; and to his other |
|
|
relatives and friends; and, be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
|
|
prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of |
|
|
Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Starling |
|
|
Thomas Morris. |
| |
|
|
Price |
|
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
|
Speaker of the House |
| |
|
|
I certify that H.R. No. 261 was unanimously adopted by a |
|
|
rising vote of the House on October 18, 2021. |
|
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
| |