Jane Morrison

April 17, 1920 – July 4, 2020

Jane Morrison, with three different careers in her 100 years, the final in politics in San Francisco and California, died at her home in San Francisco on July 4th.

Mrs. Morrison, born April 17, 1920, in Hackberry Flat, near Frederick, Oklahoma, was a 1941 graduate of Oklahoma State University, in Stillwater, and worked first in 1942, as a newspaper editor in Perry, Oklahoma, a career made possible for a woman only because men went to World War II in 1942. She then worked six years as an editor for the Associated Press in Oklahoma City and Kansas City, Missouri.

She moved to the Bay Area in 1949 with her husband Jack Morrison who, as a World War II veteran, could get a master’s degree with no cost at Stanford University. Jack later served 10 years as a news reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. In the 1960s he served eight years as an elected member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

In 1952, Jane began career number two in broadcasting at KNBR-NBC Radio in San Francisco, as manager of public affairs programming, editorialist and trainer of interns. For 8 years she conducted broadcasting classes parttime at San Francisco State University, the University of San Francisco, and City College of San Francisco.

Mrs. Morrison’s final career was in politics as a volunteer, when she served as State Women’s Chair of the California Democratic Party 1958 to 1964 and was an official delegate to the 1960 and 1964 Democratic National Conventions and campaigned in northern California with Robert and Theodore Kennedy for the 1960 election of their brother, John Kennedy, as President. She also served in leadership positions in the elections of California’s U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, and Kamala Harris.

Jane served as Chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party from 2002 to 2004, registering record numbers of Democratic voters. She also led various community service organizations, including as President of the City of San Francisco’s Human Services Commission, and a leader of the Port of San Francisco’s Waterfront Plan Advisory Board. And in the 1990s she was organizer and chair of the Woodland Avenue Feed the Hungry Project, delivering food cooked by volunteers to shelters for the homeless.

Mrs. Morrison spent much of her last years hosting fund-raising events at her home for various charities, and public officials including Presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Senators Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, and Kamala Harris, Bay Area Congressional Representatives Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Lee, Jackie Speier, Phil Burton, and Jerry McNerney, Governors Pat Brown and Jerry Brown, Mayors Willie Brown and Art Agnos, and California state legislators Tom Ammiano, John Burton, David Chiu, Mark Leno, and Phil Ting. And she campaigned hard for many members of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, past and present.

Jane Morrison is survived by niece Camilla Schneider, and nephew Keith Schneider, both of Oregon, and niece Bobbie Louise Daggs of Arizona. Jack Morrison’s surviving siblings include Charles Morrison in Washington and Gertie Lowe and Jean Baker in Missouri.

A memorial commemoration of Jane Morrison will be held when conditions are deemed safe and appropriate for gatherings.