James Morrow's Obituary
Beloved family patriarch James Loyd Morrow of Skiatook, Oklahoma passed away peacefully in hospice care on May 15, 2024 at the age of 91.
James – or Jim, to those who knew him – was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on November 6, 1932, to parents William and Ellen Viola May Morrow. One of thirteen children, he shared his upbringing with seven brothers – Bill, Bob, Derrell, Dale, Dick, Dean, and Jerry – and five sisters – Fern, Lois, Marjorie, Tharell, and Sally.
As a young man, he lent his service – and his notoriously Popeye-esque forearms – to the United States Navy. Afterward, he continued working internationally and exploring the world as a private citizen. What he found on his journey was the love of his life, Shigeno Nanjo Morrow, when their stories intersected in her homeland of Japan. Their courtship sparked a promise that he would not go home without her, and she accepted his hand in marriage – and a new home for herself – with devotion and great bravery. After marrying in Tokyo, they started their family, which grew to include four children – Ellen, Jimmy, Leah, and Gail.
Professionally, he was the owner and operator of Jim Morrow Plumbing and Mechanical, a business which left its mark on the infrastructure of countless projects in the Oklahoma area.
To his children, he was a stalwart provider, protective and strong, capable of meeting the tumult of the world with a tempest of his own. To his 11 grand and 13 great-grandchildren, he could seem an almost elemental figure, spun from the fiber of another era, his manner unaffected by a century of change. But he was also a man who moved through the eras of his life with unfailing warmth and humor, whose love beamed on his loved ones like the soft light of the sun.
Jim's family endured an acute tragedy in September 1988 with the early death of Shigeno, to whom Jim remained forever devoted. He then continued to spend his life as the sturdy anchor of his sprawling family. His frequent and generous trips to Tulsa's shopping malls kept his grandchildren entertained with toys and video games and well-versed with the newest books, and his dinners out at restaurants like Ming Palace and the Old Country Buffet kept them nourished with food and fellowship. His longtime home in Skiatook became a cozy gathering place for weekly visits and holidays. It was a place to linger for long hours after school; a playground in the summer, a shelter from snow days and ice storms, his acreage a varied wilderness on which imaginations bloomed.
In the final years of his life, he resided with his daughter Leah and son-in-law Garry Szabo in Skiatook, hosting frequent visitors, fielding many phone calls, and taking naps at leisure while watching old Westerns in a miniature apartment space made from his grandchildren's' old bedrooms.
Jim is survived by his brother, Jerry; his sisters, Tharell and Sally; his children and their spouses – Ellen and Mike Thiessen, Jimmy and Lori Morrow, Leah Szabo, and Gail and Mike Smith; his grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren. He made all their lives better, and asked for nothing in return. He will be loved, remembered, and dearly missed by them forever.
Family has requested to have private services
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