Robert Morrison

Norwich — Robert James Morrison, 85, passed away Tuesday, March 20, 2018, at Hartford Hospital.

He was born on Dec. 29, 1932, to the late John F. Morrison and Sara (Walsh) Morrison. He graduated from St. Mary’s School on Hickory Street in Norwich and later for high school from Norwich Free Academy.

After school, Robert enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served during the Korean War from 1951 to 1955. Deciding he needed an education, he attended Mitchell Junior College in New London, where he graduated with an associate’s degree. He graduated from the University of Connecticut with a bachelor of arts degree, and the University of Hartford with a master of education degree.

He was married to Adele M. Martin on Aug. 21, 1965, at St. Patrick Cathedral by the Rev. Richard Fontaine.

Robert retired from the Stonington School System as an eighth-grade English teacher at Pawcatuck Middle School in June 1994. Prior to Stonington, he taught at Norwich Free Academy. He was a teacher for 30 years, and before that worked at the Norwich Bulletin and drove a taxi around Norwich.

Being Irish and Scottish, he had an affinity for those cultures and took much pride in them. In his early years of teaching, he took students with his wife, Adele, to summer school at the University of Dundee in Scotland. An avid golfer, he once played course at The Royal and Ancient Golf Club in St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland. In his retirement from teaching, he enjoyed a second career working at Malerba’s Golf Driving Range in Norwich. He also enjoyed being a member of the Chelsea Players community theater group in Norwich for a number of years, appearing in and contributing to many productions, including “Man in the Dog Suit” and “Picasso at the Lapin Agile.”

He loved exploring and celebrating his heritage and traveling, first taking his family on trips across the country and later traveling with them around New England and the tri-state area. He loved literature, movies and telling stories of his childhood, his trips to Springdale (now a section of Stamford) with his mother and brother to see his uncle, a priest at Saint Cecilia Church, where later in life, both of his grandchildren were baptized.

Robert was predeceased by his wife of 40 years on Oct. 23, 2005, and his brother, John J. Morrison on Dec. 28, 2009.

He is survived by his daughter, Maureen and her husband, Greg, of Stamford and his grandchildren, Grace and Nathan; as well as several nieces and nephews and extended family and friends.

Calling hours will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 25, at the Cummings-Gagne Funeral Home, 82 Cliff St., Norwich. A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11 a.m. Monday, March 26, at Sacred Heart Church in Norwich, 57 W. Town St. Burial will follow in St. Joseph Cemetery, Norwich.

Please visit www.cummings-gagnefh.com to leave condolences or share a memory.