Paul Morris

Paul Morris of Pray, MT sadly passed away on September 16th at St Vincent’s Hospital, surrounded by his wife and children. He was 66 years old.

Paul was born on August 7, 1959. His family has always enjoyed the story of his birth. He was the third child born and was born on the first day of harvest. His mom Susan, experienced at this by now, had a hard time getting his dad John to get home and take her to the hospital. He got her there just in time, and as the hospital was full, Paul was born in the closet! John went right back to harvesting and didn’t see Susan or Paul again until he managed a break a week later.

Paul often talked about a childhood spent roaming around the ranch with his two older brothers, getting into trouble and trying to shoot anything that moved. They also worked hard on the farm, and to this day Paul hated the word “chore”. They went to small rural schools, so they were very close to the other kids. Some of those friendships survive to this day (Phil Majerus, Mike Marshall). They all participated in all the sports, although basketball was his favorite. He got knocked down less often than in football. He remained a sports fan his whole life – if nothing else was on, you could find Paul watching Korean high school girls’ badminton. The sport didn’t matter; the competition did.

Paul married his high school girlfriend Sherrill Waters, and they had three children together. He was a framing carpenter, so he worked out of town a lot and the family moved several times. But they always came home to Montana. In his last ten years, he built mostly those huge homes in Big Sky.

His work “family” was very important to him. Randy Harless, Bert Cain and Gabe Falcon were brothers to him, and the only people he thought were maybe as smart as he was. We heard from so many of his former employees in the last week who felt like they lost a father figure, who talked about how Paul was always willing to give someone a second chance in life, empowered them and gave them life skills – and an ethic to follow. There are many, but Ronnie Thompson and Luke Wood were very special to Paul.

Paul met his wife, Catherine "Cat" Moody, about fourteen years ago, and the relationship was a very solid partnership in life and in business. They got married at the Emigrant Outpost just two summers ago. Paul could be kind of a rough character when you first met him, because he assumes everyone else is an idiot until he gets to know them LOL. And he was well known for stating what he thought, without regard to the listener’s opinion, and Catherine learned to just laugh at how inappropriate he could be. He was also the kindest, most gentle and chivalrous man, and generous to a fault sometimes. He was never mad at anyone, and the first to say he was sorry if an argument happened, even if it was not his fault. He also made everyone laugh very hard and gave the very best hugs.

On September 12th, Catherine came home to find Paul had suffered a catastrophic brain bleed, which was not survivable. The family spent five days at St. Vincents in Billings, which provided us with nonstop support and resources, for which the family will be forever grateful. We waited to get the organ transplant arranged, and Paul slipped away peacefully with his family by his side. We are proud to say that Paul gave life and sight to others with the gift of his kidneys, corneas, and liver. And now a little bit of Paul lives on.

Paul was preceded in death by his father John Morris.

He is survived by his children Kura Morris (Mason Parsley) of Bozeman; Jade Billion (Tommy) of Bozeman; and Haven Morris of Big Sky. He loved his children with his whole heart, and they loved him back just as fiercely. He also has three grandchildren, Oliver Liedberg, Carver Liedberg, and Liza Joy Parsley.

He is also survived by his wife, Catherine "Cat" Moody, of Pray; mother Susan Morris of Lewistown; his brother Dave Morris (Jill) of Moore; his brother Steve Morris (Myrt Seifert) of Moore; his sister Patty Morris (Wayne Butts) of Harlowton; his sister Helen Morin (Bob) of Great Falls; his brother Bobby Morris (Jennifer) of Lewistown; and his sister Viola Morris (Frankie) of San Geronimo, CA. He also has a huge extended family that he always enjoyed spending time with.

Funeral services will be held at St. Leo’s Church in Lewistown on Saturday September 27th at 10:00 a.m., followed by a luncheon at St. Leo’s Commons. A celebration of Paul’s life will be held at the Emigrant Outpost, in Pray, on Sunday October 26th at 2:00 p.m. All are welcome.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made in Paul's memory to Stafford Animal Shelter, 3 Business Park Road, Livingston, MT 59047 or www.staffordanimalshelter.org.

To leave a condolence, please visit below. Franzen-Davis Funeral Home has been privileged to care for Paul and his family.