Lee B. Morrison – April 21, 2022

Lee B. Morrison, 62, of Dover passed away at Community Hospice Truman House at New Philadelphia on Thursday, April 21, 2022.

Born July 23, 1959, to Paul and Vesta Morrison at Barnesville, Ohio. He grew up on the family farm on the border of Harrison and Guernsey counties and attended Madison High School, where he was a member of the final graduating class in 1977. (Madison later became part of Buckeye Trail.). It was in high school where Lee was devoted as a class photographer and editor for the yearbook and his love for journalism was cemented. He went on to continue his formal education at The Ohio State University at Columbus, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism. In college, he split time and also served as a stringer for the Daily Jeffersonian at Cambridge.

In 1983 Lee accepted a full-time position as a Staff Writer for The New Philadelphia Times-Reporter and the rest, they say, is history. Lee’s keen eye for detail and his penchant for the facts earned the respect of many whom he worked with regularly and had grown a professional and personal relationship with over the years. If Lee Morrison wrote it, you could count on it to be true. He was notorious for checking his facts three times and turning in copy ready to print as he was a perfectionist at his craft and had mastered it after nearly 40 years at the helm. His editors recall him as the preeminent memorial tribute writer. His memorial pieces often encapsulated the spirit of those he befriended in documenting their work to grow and expand their businesses.

Lee was woven into the fabric of the New Philadelphia Times-Reporter from his beginnings on the county beat, to being tapped as Business & Weekend Editor. Nary a day would pass without seeing Lee B. Morrison in a byline or unknowingly reading his headlines and seeing a layout he had a part in. Lee was a selfless and gentle soul. You’d be hard-pressed to hear him brag that he authored and published From the Wilderness: Recovering a Relic in 1995. It was a historic recounting of the restoration of a B-26 Marauder from World War II. He was proud of it, and offered a subsequent commission to expand on another project and its history, but he declined as he always found his way back to the newsroom.

Lee also had an uncanny memory and had near-total recall about events, quotes, movie lines and his love of all things Super Hero, Comic books, Sci-Fi, Star Trek, and Star Wars. Batman and Yoda being amongst his most favorite characters of all time. Friends and co-workers also recall his penchant for Mt. Dew as his drink of choice.

In his career Lee had won an AP Award for piece on a serial arsonist Thomas Dillon, who was deemed a serial killer as well and was active from 1989-1992 when he was apprehended. Lee and T-R Staff Writer Joe Mizer had jointly won the prize in 1991 as they pieced together a series of works on the then unknown arsonist in Tuscarawas and surrounding counites. Dillon was later apprehended in part due to their work. Lee also had won numerous AP awards over the years and had an eye for working behind the camera – capturing many moments for friends and family personally as their designated historian.

Lee is survived by his parents; his brother, Ronald Morrison; niece Rachel and grand-nephews, Paul, Parker, and Presley Morrison. His special friend and companion Joan Spellman; her daughters, Andrea and Melissa (Wally) Connare and Andrea and Melissa’s children, all of Dover.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, April 25th starting at 11:00 am in the Toland-Herzig Funeral Home and Crematory at Dover. Interment will be in the Greenmont Cemetery at Freeport. The family will be receiving friends at the funeral home on Sunday from 2:00 to 5:00 pm, and one hour prior to the service on Monday. Those wishing to express their fondest memories of Lee may do so by visiting the online obituaries link on the funeral home’s website.

The family would like to thank the nurses and staff at Community Hospice Truman House for their wonderful and compassionate care.

Memorial contributions may be made to Community Hospice at 716 Commercial Ave. SW, New Philadelphia, Ohio 44663.