Document text
69 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, May 24, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Biz Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 13, 2005 Crater Foundation benefactor dies at 94 By JOHN DARLING for the Mail Tribune More than 160 Crater High School seniors will get scholarships this year for vocational and technical education as a result of earnings from a $1.6 million trust fund created by Earl Morris, who died Thursday at 94. The builder of Gold Gulch, a replica frontier mining town near I-5 and Blackwell Hill, Morris "was a bright guy who learned how to make shrewd investments" in blue chip stocks, bonds and utilities, including General Motors and Ford, said Jay McRoberts, coordinator of the Crater Fund for Crater High seniors. Morris last year sold his 883 acres, including his Hidden Valley ranch, with proceeds from investments going to the Morris Family Foundation. Earnings go to the Crater Foundation, administered by Central Point School District 6 for use in vocational-technical scholarships, most at Rogue Community College, with some at Oregon Technical Institute, Southern Oregon University and upstate schools, McRoberts said. Some $30,000 was given to the Crater Foundation last year, he added, with the average award being a $500 one-time grant on entering college. Advertisement School district Financial Director Vicky Robinson said awards of $9,400 went to students last year. Bill Montague of Gold Hill, the executor of the Morris estate, helped Morris set up the Morris Family Foundation in 1997, with all earnings intended to go to vocational-technical scholarships. Crater High’s new science building is named after Morris. "I can’t think of anyone who had more friends in this valley," said Montague. "He was a real nice guy." After growing up in Cicero, Ill., Earl and his brother LaRue Morris moved here with their parents, John and Lillian and, in 1941, bought the huge Hidden Valley ranch. The land was reputed to have two gold mines on it, but the father, a mining engineer, died before the mines could be found and developed, so the sons created Gold Gulch for the 1959 Oregon centennial. Here they did public demonstrations on gold panning, ran cattle and collected historic buildings, such as a Wells Fargo depot, newspaper office, blacksmith shop and the 1905 Gold Hill store. They outfitted it with an assay office, coffee grinder and antique cash register. They displayed old trains and a stage coach. The brothers abandoned the project when land use planning laws became too restrictive, said Montague. The land was sold to developer Bernie Zieminski, who wants to build a destination resort with luxury homes, a hotel, golf course and horse arena. "They had quite a life," said McRoberts, a retired District 6 teacher. "The father was a police chief in Illinois, and the family had a burger chain where mobster Al Capone would frequently drop in." Earl Morris was an engineer for Pratt & Whitney and designed engines for race cars and World War II airplanes, said McRoberts. "He was a very giving and spiritually oriented person, and his dream was to keep that $1.6 million intact, generating money each year to help kids get going in the right direction." Morris fancied a flashy, well-engineered Lamborghini, which he drove in parades, drawing cheers with a horn that played the theme from the movie "Dr. Zhivago." Morris was a longtime member of First Presbyterian Church in Central Point. Although he was unable to hear sermons in later years, said McRoberts, he would say he wanted to just "be there with the Lord." Services will be at 9:30 a.m. next Thursday at Perl Funeral Home in Medford. John Darling is a freelance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Free Music Downloads Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg diamonds Distance Education Diamonds Online Poker Auto Insurance Mesothelioma Slippers Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Website Design & Marketing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Mortgage Calculator Free Home-Loan Referrals Payday Loans Advertisement s