William “Bill” Lee Morris III ’54

William “Bill” Lee Morris III ’54, husband of Lynne Joyce Morris of Fairview, N.C., and Isle of Palms, S.C., passed away suddenly of a heart attack on March 28. Morris was born on Jan. 28, 1932, in Concord, N.C., son of the late William Lee Morris, Jr. and Winifred Pegram Morris, and brother of the late Mason Morris Brooks. He received a bachelor’s degree from Davidson, where he was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity; served in the U.S. Army, where he was a flight instructor; and had a long and successful career that began with Wilson Aircraft Sales and Service and continued with Ford Motor Co., Nightingale-Conant Executive Training, Zimmer Orthopedics, and, at the time of his retirement in 1997, concluded as the president of his own company, Zimmer Morris, Inc., in Asheville. Morris was an avid aviator (earning his pilot’s license as a teenager, one of the youngest ever to do so in N.C. at that time), and dearly loved the outdoors, hunting, flying, Davidson College, Duke basketball, and his family. His many memberships included Sales and Marketing Executives of Asheville, the Davidson Wildcat Club, Bulls Bay Golf Club, Asheville Rifle and Pistol Club, and he was a lifelong member of the NRA. He was an outgoing man with a great sense of humor who never met a stranger and will be greatly missed. He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Lynne Joyce Morris, 52 Cherry Forest Ln., Fairview, NC 28730; daughter, Chris Anne Morris (Jeffery West); daughter, Amelia Morris; son, Lee Reichard Morris; granddaughter, Maggie West; and first wife and children’s mother, Christine Reichard Morris. Donations may be made in his name to the Davidson Athletic Foundation, Box 7172, Davidson, NC 28035-7172.