Henry Herndon Morris

Herndon Morris, of Atlanta, Georgia, passed away on Sunday, May 11th, following a brief illness. He was born August 15, 1919, in Floyd County, Georgia, Wax Community. He was the youngest of nine children, and grew up working hard on farming chores, hunting in and exploring the surrounding woods, fishing in nearby lakes, and learning reading, writing and 'rithmatic at Harmony School. He enjoyed sports, and played "hindcatcher" on a baseball team of rural boys who successfully challenged some of the best sandlot teams in Floyd and surrounding counties. During World War II, he served in the Georgia State Guards, Company C, 22nd Division, while helping maintain the family farm. He began his career in textiles in 1942, working for extended periods at Pepperell Mill in Lindale, Georgia, Aragon Mills, and Scottdale Mill and Georgia Duck and Cordage, in Atlanta, retiring in 1993. He was married for 62 years to Margie Popham Morris of Taylorsville, Georgia, the love of his life, who passed away in 2006. Having traveled a good distance with his mother as a young child on a buckboard to church each Sunday in the Flint Hill Community, he continued his devotion to his Christian faith throughout his life. He was a deacon and youth leader at the Wax Baptist Church, and following his move to Atlanta in 1970 became an active member of the Briarlake Baptist Church and its Businessmen's Bible Class, serving as an usher and on its Counting Committee. In retirement he and Margie traveled to London, Hawaii, New England, Texas, and many other places visiting family and friends. Herndon also became an avid family genealogist. He worked as an "enumerator" (census taker) for the 1940 U. S. Federal Census and was very pleased to have the opportunity to review his work when it was released in 2012, 72 years after he had certified his pages with his signature. He was also a loyal but not always uncritical Atlanta Braves Fan and an author of many stories about his adventures as a young boy growing up in rural north Georgia. He was a great listener, a supportive and loving father, grandfather and great-grandfather--and will be missed terribly by his family, friends, and loved ones. He is survived by three sons---John Daniel (Danny) Morris (wife Margie Ann), Michael Herndon Morris (wife Sheila), and Gregory Steve Morris; six granddaughters--Rebecca Morris (and husband Rob Gross), Cathy Roche (and husband Björn), Kelley Geesey (and husband Brian),
Christy Cook (and husband, Jeff), Sharon Morris, and Shannon Morris; as well as four great-grandsons--Carter Geesey, Sam Gross, Aiden Cook, and Sebastian Roche. The funeral service will be held at 11:00 am on Saturday, May 17th, at A.S. Turner and Sons Funeral Home. Reverend Greg Smith, Pastor of Scott Boulevard Baptist Church and Chaplain of KingsBridge Retirement Center, will officiate. Interment will be at 3:00 pm on Saturday May 17th, at the Wax Community Cemetery, located behind the old Silver Creek Primitive Baptist Church in Wax, Georgia. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Businessmen's Bible Class Scholarship Fund, Briarlake Baptist Church, 3715 LaVista Road, Decatur Georgia 30033. The family will receive friends on Friday, May 16th, from 5:00-8:00 pm at A. S. Turner Funeral Home and Crematory.


Funeral Home:
A.S. Turner
2773 N. Decatur Road
Decatur, GA
30033