William Lewis Morris was born on January 14, 1920 in Port Huron, Michigan. He attended Michigan State College (now MSU) from 1939 – 1941 studying engineering. During those three years, Morris was part of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) and participated with the Pistol Team and the Hesperian House. Morris left college and enlisted in the Army Air Corp on November 3, 1941.

In the Air Corp, he had a career as a fighter pilot and obtained the rank of Major. His P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft was nicknamed the “Spartan Spirit” and it had a spartan warrior painted on the nose of his plane. In the final days of the war, Morris’ plane was shot down in the China Sea. Luckily, he was able to eject from his plane, parachute into the water, and use his one-man raft to stay afloat. It wasn’t long before he was rescued and taken to a hospital off the coast of Okinawa.

After the war, Morris returned to MSC to complete his education. He graduated on December 19, 1946 with a degree in Chemistry. In 1951, Morris married Barbara Shipton. He would go on to work for Briggs Plumbing in Detroit and became the Vice President of Montgomery Ward in Chicago, Illinois. Morris retired in Florida and passed away on May 20, 2005.