Morris Winham Pettit: The Man Behind the Lens

The Man Behind the Lens

It was rare to get Morris in front of the camera; he was always the one busy taking photos, many of them award-winning shots, mainly out of love for his subjects...

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A Life Well Lived

Morris was born in Bloomburg, TX on October 23,1918. After finishing his hometown high school as Valedictorian and the “Most Popular Boy in School”, he pursued an Engineering degree at Texas A&M, where he was a proud member of the Aggie Marching Band. Upon graduation in 1940 he began his 32-year U.S. Army career, which included service in the Philippines, Okinawa, Korea, Japan, Greece, Germany, France, and many places across the United States.

In 1942, while stationed in San Diego, Morris met and married the love of his life, Virginia. Theirs was a lifelong romance of 66 years. They raised two children while traveling the globe. Morris earned his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Southern California in 1956. The highlight of his military career came in 1963-64, when he served as Commanding Officer of the 69th Air Defense Group in Western Germany. Morris and his family arrived in Huntsville in 1965, where he held a command position at Redstone Arsenal as Project Manager for the Nike Hercules Missile System. He retired in 1972.

Morris had many recreational interests, including photography (which won him numerous awards), miniature trains, electronics, camping trips with his grandchildren, and boating. He was a member of the Redstone Yacht Club and the Huntsville Power Squadron (serving as Commander and Chaplain), and his love of boating led him to invent a line of patented marine products (STO-LINE).

An active member of Faith Chapel Pentecostal Holiness Church, Morris served several terms on the Board as both a Deacon and an Elder. He was instrumental in the building of Faith Chapel’s Family LIfe Center. For more than 30 years, Morris was an active member of the Gideons International, and served in various positions on the State Cabinet.

Morris Pettit loved God, Family, Country, and his fellow man, and was an inspiration to everyone he met. He will be remembered by his family and many friends as a man of cheerful disposition and good humor who was always ready with a smile of encouragement. He was a true gentleman.

The True Gentleman

"The True Gentleman is the man whose conduct proceeds from good will and an acute sense of propriety, and whose self-control is equal to all emergencies; who does not make the poor man conscious of his poverty, the obscure man of his obscurity, or any man of his inferiority or deformity; who is himself humbled if necessity compels him to humble another; who does not flatter wealth, cringe before power, or boast of his own possessions or achievements; who speaks with frankness but always with sincerity and sympathy; whose deed follows his word; who thinks of the rights and feelings of others, rather than his own; and who appears well in any company, a man with whom honor is sacred and virtue safe." – John Walter Wayland

The World Needs Men

...who cannot be bought

...whose word is their bond

...who put character above wealth

...who are larger than their vocations

...who do not hesitate to take chances

...who will not lose their individuality in a crowd

...who will be as honest in small things as in great things; who will make no compromise with wrong

...whose ambitions are not confined to their own selfish desires; who will not say they do it because everybody else does it

...who are true to their friends through good report and evil report, in adversity as well as in prosperity

...who do not believe that shrewdness, cunning, and hardheadedness are the best qualities for winning success

...who are not ashamed or afraid to stand for the truth when it is unpopular

...who can say “no” with emphasis, although all the rest of the world says “yes.”

God, make me this kind of man.

– Leonard Wagner

Christian Love in Action

Each day I saw him walk the hallways of the nursing home with her lunch in hand. He packaged it neatly at the café on the first floor, tied the carrying bag so the soup would not spill, then he carried it gently onto the elevator and to his wife on the second floor. I saw him smile at her with a twinkle in his eyes even though she could not comprehend the daily happenings.

This man—retired Army Colonel Morris Pettit—inspired many around him as his gentle love for his wife Virginia reflected Christ daily. He personified Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind and compassionate to one another.” I often prayed Galatians 6:9 over Colonel Pettit: “Let us not become weary in doing good.”

In September, after a lengthy stay in the nursing facility, Virginia Pettit passed into the loving arms of her heavenly Father. Colonel Pettit is grieving, yet openly shares his certainty of his spouse’s ultimate healing. I recently saw him back at the nursing home distributing Gideon Bibles, smiling and encouraging others through Christian love in action.

by Donna Armstrong, 2008

1918

1918 – Over a thousand moons

have come and passed

Since that year,

when our roots took a stronger hold

Many have looked to you

for wisdom, young and old

Never turned away from those

who came into your path.

1942 – Turmoil abroad,

yet heart stolen by a California girl

Twenty thousand sunrises

shared across the table

And even when the creek rose,

the Lord was willing and able

How blessed we are that

Virginia came into your world.

Captain of Miss Sto-Line,

through calm and stormy seas

Engineer of Speedy,

'round the corners and the bends

Pilot of the Green Machine

traveling state to state.

Our family tree owes much to you,

never breaking in the breeze

The world would be a better place

if people looked through your lens...

...You are more

than just a Grand Father –

You're Great!

Love, Jonathan

Dear Grandfather,

What can I say to the most amazing man ever? Thank you really isn’t enough, but here goes: Thank you for catching me the first time we met when they passed me over the fence; you’ve been catching me ever since, and I’m grateful for that. Thank you for carting me around in a wheelbarrow, for pushing my trike, for taking the training wheels off my bike, for running up and down Devon Street and never letting me fall. Thanks for all the adventures up and down the highway in the jolly green van, and up and down the river in MIss Sto-Line. Thank you, for letting me sit on your lap as Neil Armstrong took that giant leap; YOU are MY hero, and my greatest wish is this: to be worthy of taking one step in your shoes. Thank you for letting me stand on your feet as you taught me the box step, and for teaching me to stand on my own two feet when the time came. Thank you for rescuing me again and again, when the car broke down or the bus broke down or I broke down. Thanks for teaching me to parallel park to perfection in between those giant toilet paper boxes. Thanks for watching at the window and lighting my path. Thanks for believing in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself. Thanks for fixing things: no job was ever too big or to small and you always seemed to have the right tools. Thanks for never raising your voice, but always being the voice of reason. Thanks for not being afraid to show your affection. Thank you for showing me what a good marriage based on true devotion looks like. Thank you for taking such good care of Grandma and Grammie and Gigi, and for allowing me the honor of taking care of you. Thank you for holding the door and holding my hand; you’re a true gentleman, a really, truly gentle man. Thanks for calling every night at eight o’clock on the dot for the daily meeting of our mutual adoration society, to solve the world’s problems or just shoot the breeze. Thank you for calling me, “sweetheart”, “morning glory”, “sugar lump”, and “darling”. Thanks for always saying those three little words: “I appreciate you.” There’s no doubt that goes both ways. Thanks for being my collaborator, my consoler, and my confidante. Thanks for being my biggest fan and my best friend. You will always, always, be my Number One. Thanks for being the finest sort of example in every way. Thank you for a lifetime of unconditional love.

I love you and I miss you. So very, very much.

Why I Admire Grandfather

There’s no person in the universe I admire more than my great-grandfather. Grandfather, as we all call him, has always been there for everybody. Never is there a time that I feel ignored by him.

Last Christmas, he came to visit with my great-grandmother. On their last night with us, we played a board game called Memory. When Grandfather won the game, we were each supposed to say something thoughtful about him. “Grandfather,” I said, “You’ve always, always been there for me, to help or encourage me when I’m down or beside myself. You are such a respectful and wonderful person, that I would pick you on the spot if we were to elect the world’s perfect role model. And, Grandfather, you give the best hugs ever.” I could swear at that moment, his eyes grew cloudy with tears, though I think he was not trying to show it. “Thank you, Chloe,” and he leaned forward and gave me one of his great big hugs. When we went around the room to say nice things about me, what Grandfather said was the most special. He never wanted me to change. I was always going to be his Chloé. No matter what happened. That was one of my most special moments in my life.

Standing over six feet tall at the age of 87, Col. Morris Pettit was definitely in shape. He had already survived two heart attacks and now Grandfather’s heart is made mostly of metal. I remember him telling me once that he was at a party and they had to wear nametags with magnets on the back. All of a sudden, Grandfather heard a little tune playing that sounded just like a cell phone’s ringtone, when he realized that the magnet had set off the alarm in his metal heart. Luckily it wasn’t something really serious. When he tells me these stories, his face is always wearing a smile that stretches as far as the ocean and his eyes are as calm as a quiet winter morning. This is what makes him such a unique person, because no matter how hard or confusing something is for Grandfather, he tries not to show it. He is selfless and is always thinking of others. Grandfather doesn’t want to give other people pain or hardships just because he’s dealing with some. I’ve always admired that in him, his ability to make everyone around him happy – and I know it’s a hard thing to do.

Grandfather served in the army. He was, and still is, the most respected man in the world. He partook in many wars including World War II, and was in charge of many things. At one point, Grandfather, a colonel, told all of these stories of how he, my great-grandmother, and my grandmother moved several times usually by ship and lived in places like South Korea, Germany, Japan, and sometimes, they were forced to stay on the ships for many months for safety reasons. Some of the stories Grandfather told me were really scary. Other stories though were quite funny like one time, in the middle of the night; Grandfather heard his red emergency phone ring. “This is Col. Morris Pettit…” As it turned out, the phone call had been from my other great-grandfather telling Grandfather that his granddaughter, my mother, was just born. Feee-eew.

I truly think that Grandfather is the best man, the best human, in the world. He always has a good attitude and rarely loses his temper, which is a very hard thing for most people to do. Nothing really makes him unhappy, that I can tell of, so this is what makes him a very unique person. If we were all like Grandfather, we could have world peace. You wouldn’t need to really know Grandfather to figure out what kind of a person he is – you can see it in his face, his eyes, and his smile. Grandfather has helped me form into the person I am today. Without him, I first of all wouldn’t be here, but I wouldn't be the person I am. I love you, Grandfather.

Love, Chloé

January 24, 2006

The Man Behind the Lens

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