[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 61 (Friday, March 27, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E333-E334]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          TRIBUTE TO HONOR THE LIFE OF RICHARD BERNARD MORRIS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 27, 2020

  Ms. ESHOO. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the life and work of an 
extraordinary man, Richard Bernard Morris, who was born March 9, 1930 
in Alameda, California, to Thelma T. and John E. Morris, and was the 
fifth of seven children. He passed away surrounded by his beloved 
family on Tuesday, January 21, 2020, at the age of 89.
  Richard Morris attended Piedmont High School and attended the 
University of Santa Clara for one year prior to entering the Society of 
Jesus. In 1955, he left the seminary to join the United States Army and 
was stationed in Germany for two years.
  After his military service, he completed his Bachelor of Arts degree 
at UC Berkeley and attended law school at Boalt Hall (Berkeley Law). It 
was at Berkeley where he met his best pal and true love, Anne 
``Bummie'' Baumgartner, and they were married at Mission San Juan 
Bautista on September 12, 1959.
  Rich entered private practice in 1960, first at Chickering & Gregory, 
and then at Feldman, Waldman & Kline, both in San Francisco. While in 
private practice, he began doing pro bono legal work and found his 
passion. In 1968, San Francisco was chosen as one of twenty cities to 
receive Ford Foundation funds directed at increasing the number of 
lawyers involved in pro bono work, and Rich was hired as the first 
Executive Director of the new San Francisco Lawyers Committee for Urban 
Affairs (now Lawyers Committee on Civil Rights).
  Rich's family was his joy. He was keenly interested in each of his 
children, grandchildren, their spouses and friends. He was a generous, 
funny, original, and supportive father, father-in-law, and grandfather, 
and the best partner to Anne.
  Rich was a devout Catholic who believed that work on behalf of the 
marginalized was fundamental to being a follower of Jesus. He was 
naturally attracted to quiet prayer and the contemplation of God's 
goodness in all things and people. As Jesuits would say, he was a 
contemplative in action, truly a ``man for others.'' He believed 
strongly in social justice and instilled these principles in his 
children and grandchildren.
  In 1975, Rich became Director of Communications for the American Bar 
Association, and the family moved to Evanston, Illinois. In 1998, Rich 
and Anne began a new adventure when they moved to Anne's family ranch 
in San Juan Bautista, California, where he soon became active in the 
movement for a more holistic, regenerative approach to land management.
  In 2017, Rich and Anne moved back to San Francisco, where he was 
delighted to have a window with a view of his beloved Bay.
  Madam Speaker, I ask the entire House of Representatives to join me 
in honoring this great and good man, and in extending our most sincere 
condolences to his beloved wife Anne, his eight children; his seven 
children-in-law; his eleven grandchildren and his siblings, Nancy 
Morris, RSJC, Bill Morris, and Thelma Clare Morris. Richard Morris' 
life was one of faith lived, duty, and purpose. He strengthened his 
community and bettered our nation, and it is an honor to pay tribute to 
him.

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