‘Master salesman’
David G. Morris, 92,
died April 26, 2021

COOPERSTOWN – David G. Morris, loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, died Monday morning, April 26, 2021, at his beloved home, Evergreen, in Cooperstown following a lengthy illness. He was 92.

Born November 30, 1928, in Lena, Wisconsin, Dave was a son of Ralph and Ruth (Pelkey) Morris. It was while he was on a hayride in Ohio that he met the love of his life, Emily Moran. They were married July 4, 1953, in Hillsboro, Ohio.

Dave held various sales and management positions with Batesville Casket Company. During his career he achieved Salesman of the Year and was inducted into the Masters Club. It was while working with the Ingalls Funeral Home that Millie Ingalls encouraged Dave and his family to move to and settle in Cooperstown. At the age of 55 Dave retired from Batesville. He was one never to sit idle, so he began a career as a real estate broker with Hubbell’s Real Estate in Cooperstown. Always a people person, he really enjoyed this job, and kept working until his late 80s.

Dave was a horseman, owning several horses through the years. Well into his 70s, he would travel to the western high country of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana to join cattle drives. He and his family crossed Michigan on horseback several times on the Shore-to-Shore trail. This gave him the opportunity to be on horseback for weeks at a time. He will be fondly remembered for being an old cowboy at heart.

Dave was an avid skeet shooter and hunter, having harvested many nice whitetail bucks. He and Emily enjoyed many Sunday drives in their 1953 MGTD, which he had restored.

Dave is survived by his wife of 67 years, Emily A. Morris of Cooperstown; two sons,  David A. “Tony” Morris and wife, Lynda of Traverse City, Michigan and Daniel P. Morris and wife, Nancy of Cooperstown; two daughters, Ellen A. Morris and husband, Stephen Mahlum of Cooperstown and Erin E. Budd and husband, Stephen of Huntersville, North Carolina; eight grandchildren, Adelia Wiley and husband, Brian, Victoria Morris, Madelyn Maxbauer and husband, Andrew, Olivia Morris, Leland Morris, Alexander Mahlum, Zachary Mahlum, David Budd and Margaret Budd; great grandchild Lillian Maxbauer; a sister, Mary Lou Hains of Sabina, Ohio; a cousin, Don B. Morris of Leesburg, Ohio; the Rolfe family of Bainbridge, Ohio; a sister-in-law, Margaret Hudson of Hillsboro, Ohio; and several nieces and nephews.

He was predeceased by a daughter, Mary Beth Morris; an infant grandson, Samuel Vincent Morris; and a sister, Virginia Rose.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at a later date at St. Mary’s “Our Lady of the Lake” Roman Catholic Church in Cooperstown. Interment will be in Lakewood Cemetery, Cooperstown.

In lieu of flowers, please donate in Dave’s memory to Helios Care, 297 River Street Service Road, Oneonta, NY  13820.

Arrangements are under the care and guidance of the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown.