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2008 SESSION

084203484
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 277
Offered January 24, 2008
Celebrating the life of James Tolleison Morriss V.
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Patrons-- Dance, Cox, Hall, Ingram, Jones, D.C., Nixon and Ware, R.L.
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WHEREAS, James Tolleison Morriss V, a native of Petersburg, passed into eternal life on January 4, 2008; and

WHEREAS, James Tolleison Morriss V, affectionately called “Jay” by those who loved and knew him, received his baccalaureate degree from Randolph-Macon College in 1966, and earned his master’s degree from the American Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Service in 1969; and

WHEREAS, while attending Randolph-Macon College, James Tollieson Morriss V was a member of the swim team and the Varsity Club, and served as president of Phi Kappa Sigma; and

WHEREAS, James Tolleison Morriss V assumed the reign of a fourth generation family funeral service business upon the death of his father in 1982, and under his leadership and management, the business expanded exponentially with chapels added in Chesterfield County in 1979 and in Wakefield in 1999 and a crematory added in 2004; in 2006 as President of J. T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home & Cremation Service, he led the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the funeral service establishment; and

WHEREAS, James Tolleison Morriss V was an active and enthusiastic member of his community, participating in many professional, community, and civic organizations, including the Southside Virginia Emergency Crew, the United Way, the American Heart Association, the YMCA, the Historic Blandford Foundation, Crime Solvers, the Fort Henry Branch of the Association for Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce, the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Virginia's Gateway Region, the Petersburg Cotillion, the Petersburg Country Club, and the Board of Trustees for SunTrust Bank, and serving as a board member of the Society of Alumni of Randolph-Macon College from 1973 to 1976, past president of the Petersburg Rotary Club, president of the Central District Funeral Directors Association, a board member and past president of the Virginia Funeral Directors Association, a former trustee of the John T. Wightman/Randolph-Macon College Foundation, a board member of the Friday German, chairman of the Historic Petersburg Foundation, and a board member of the Contact Tri-City Area; and

WHEREAS, James Tolleison Morriss V received numerous recognitions and awards for his community service, among them the Young Alumnus Achievement Award in 1979 from the Society of Alumni of Randolph-Macon College and the Petersburg Outstanding Young Man Award in 1972; and

WHEREAS, James Tolleison Morriss V will be remembered as a kind and generous man, a “gentleman's gentleman,” and an exceptionally skilled and professional funeral service director who extended comfort and solace to families during times of bereavement and graced his profession with dignity, integrity, and honor; and

WHEREAS, during his lifetime, James Tolleison Morriss V touched many lives near and far, helping many anonymously through his generosity and deep affection for the people of his hometown of Petersburg; and

WHEREAS, James Tolleison Morriss V will be fondly remembered for his kind and generous nature and will be greatly missed by his loving family, friends, colleagues, admirers, and the citizens of Petersburg; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly mourn the passing of a fine public servant and outstanding Virginian, James Tolleison Morriss V; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of James Tolleison Morriss V as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect for his memory.