Jack Morrison Obituary

Jack Morrison of Durango, CO, passed peacefully at home on March 12, 2024. Jack was born June 18, 1931 and grew up in Brunswick, Maine. President of his Senior Class at Brunswick High School, he was also captain of the basketball team and timpanist for the Maine all-state orchestra. While in high school, he won the Maine State High School golf championship. Jack obtained his B.S. degree from the University of Connecticut (UConn) where he was a dean's list student, a member of the UConn Husky basketball team and captain of the golf team. After graduation from UConn, he joined the faculty at Sedgwick Junior High School in West Hartford, Connecticut, where he taught science for 20 years. Jack was known to have said, "Seventh graders were a delight, while eight graders were God's revenge on parents." During those 20 years, he earned an M.S. degree in Education from Central Connecticut State University. In addition to his teacher's position Jack's love of basketball led him to become a high school and college basketball referee for 15 years. As an alumnus, he delighted in the emergence of the UConn Husky basketball program and was a lifelong and dedicated fan. During winter school vacations, he was a PSIA ski instructor in New Hampshire and spent winter weekends working on the National Ski Patrol in Western Massachusetts. During summer vacations, he returned to Maine where he first found an Assistant Golf Professional's position in Bangor. Over the ensuing years, he was the Head Professional at the Mount Kineo Hotel resort and eventually became the Head Professional for 10 years at the Prouts Neck Country Club in Scarborough, Maine.

He retired from public school teaching in 1980 and began a full-time career in the golf world. He was hired as Head Professional at the Washington Golf and Country Club in Arlington, VA. During his time in Virginia, he went back to school to obtain his Ph.D. in behavioral psychology, and soon began work as a Marriage and Family Therapist for Kaplan Associates in Bethesda, MD. It was during this time in his life when he met his soon to be beloved bride, Barbara, his wife of nearly 40 years. After two years of practice as a therapist, Jack found the work too depressing and decided to head back into golf. He was hired as the President of the Baltimore Municipal Golf Corporation to run the four city golf courses. Then changing gears once again he was hired as the Director of Human Resources and Corporate Training for Waverly Press in Baltimore, the largest printer and publisher of Medical Journals in the county. While in Baltimore, he also was an Associate Professor at The Johns Hopkins University teaching graduate MBA courses. Jack's next journey took him and Barbara to Sarasota, FL for a dream job working for the PGA Tour's Tournament Players Clubs network as General Manager and Head Professional for the TPC facility in Sarasota, FL. Six years later Jack transferred to Connecticut to run the TPC at River Highlands, home of the PGA Tour's Travelers' Tournament, the second largest attended tournament on the tour's schedule. After Connecticut, Jack and Barbara moved to Atlanta where Jack worked for Cobblestone Golf Group as their Regional Director running four golf courses in the greater Atlanta, GA area. During those years in Atlanta, he continued his dedication to teaching and taught MBA courses at the University of Phoenix. In 2000 Jack founded Morrison Consulting, a management and training company that he continued to run for over 20 years. His sweetheart, Barbara, says Jack had expansive interests, a curious intelligent mind, and love of a challenge. When new opportunities presented themselves, Jack wouldn't hesitate to "re-pot" himself.

Retirement brought Jack and Barbara to Durango and presented a chance for a new direction; it was an easy choice and one that Jack said was the best one they ever made. In Durango, he was sought out as a management consultant and executive coach, working with many entities including as a valued consultant to the Southern Ute Tribe. Durango offered Jack the opportunity to return to many of his favorite activities, often bragging where else can you ski in the morning and play golf in the afternoon! At 60, Jack was back as a PSIA ski instructor at Purgatory Mountain teaching until he was 80 years old! His great passion for golf since the age of 12 was front and center with time now available to enjoy the game to the end of his life. When asked it was always a pleasure he could give a golf tip or two to buddies and friends. He loved the Durango Community and contributed as President of the Hillcrest Golf Club's Board, President of the Women's Resource Center's Board (the first male to assume that position), President of the Board for The Liberty School for Dyslectic Students, member of Fort Lewis College Professional Associates, member of the Community Foundation, member of the Chamber of Commerce's Diplomats, member of a Snowdown Committee, and a member of the Four Corners Management Systems, an executive coach and succession planning adviser to San Juan College, Farmington NM. and resolution conflict advisor to the Bloomfield School District, NM. Over the years, he and Barbara traveled to many places throughout the US and around the world being game for some extraordinary adventures. There would be frequent trips to his home in Maine to spend time with family and longtime friends along with visits to extended family scattered across the country. He was grateful for the beautiful area of Durango and especially the wonderful and outstanding friends in his life, which he valued completely. Jack leaves behind his adored wife of 39 years, Barbara, his cherished daughter Suzanne Roelof and husband James Roelof of Eugene, OR, his much-loved son Steven of Sanford, FL and his grandchildren Avery and Julia Roelof who brought him such pride, his dear sister Lelani Teel of Brunswick, ME and his loved extended family, Chad and Elizabeth Laub of Timberlake, OH, Molly K. Laub of Sarasota, FL, Asa and Robyn Van Gelder of Telluride ,CO, Ashton H Laub of Colorado Springs, CO and Colton H Laub of Loreto, TX.