Houston County News

A variety of issues were brought up during the May 13 meeting, including recent flooding, health care, alternative fuel sources, broadband expansion and TVA.

<![CDATA[Will Cummins Morrison, Jr. died on May 5, 2013 in Dickson, Tenn. He was 90 years old. Will was a life-long native of Dickson. He was born April 2, 1923 to the late Tennye Bates Morrison and the late Will C. Morrison Sr. He has one sister Carol Morrison Fuson of Dickson. Will attended Dickson High School and was the salutatorian of his 1941 graduating class. For many years, he assisted his graduating class with their annual June reunion. He loved his classmates and always made time to spend with them. They were his best friends. He began his college career at Vanderbilt University until the outbreak of World War II changed his focus that same year. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the Navy and served in World War II until 1945. He then completed his degree in engineering at Tennessee Technological University. Following graduation, he joined his father, Will C. Morrison Sr., who along with his own father, W.P. Morrison, had already founded the W.P. Morrison Insurance Agency in 1921. He worked there until he retired in 1986. By that time the name of the insurance agency had changed to Morrison and Fuson, and he passed the torch to his namesake, Will III. Morrison and Fuson Insurance remained always a true source of his familial pride. In 1950, Will married Clara Imogene (Jean) Inman. She preceded him in death in 2003. They shared 53 years of marriage and had four children together. During these years, he continued to work in the insurance industry, shoot and hunt, and restore old farms in both Dickson and Houston counties. For over a decade, he made an annual hunting pilgrimage to Argentina where he met the same group of buddies. Every October, he went to South Dakota with friends from Dickson, Texas, and around the country for a pheasant hunt. He was also very active in local Republican politics and the PTA. In addition to his career in insurance, Will served on the Board of Directors for The First National Bank for many years. He was also a volunteer Boy Scout leader. He was passionate about teaching hunting techniques and gun safety. He made a tremendous difference in many young men's lives by honing their shooting skills. Will was a nationally renowned trap shooter. He won many state trap-shooting competitions and served for a number of years as the President of The Nashville Gun Club. In 1963, he won a prestigious trap-shooting title in Kentucky and was named as a "Kentucky Colonel". One highlight of his shooting career was winning the southern zone father and son trapshoot with his son Will. In 2006, he was inducted into the Tennessee Trap-shooting Hall of Fame during the time when his youngest son, Charles, served as the President of The Nashville Gun Club. He often said, "This was the most unexpected and satisfying award of my life." He was a life- long member of The National Rifle Association. For a time, he enjoyed raising bird dogs. In more recent years, he enjoyed spending time on his Yellow Creek farm. He attended the Sylvia Church of Christ. He loved the people and enjoyed the kindness that Reverend Daniel and Reverend Beard showed him in so many ways. Will was truly an individualist, a real treasure, and a talented storyteller. Some of his best stories were about his days as a young man in World War II, hunting adventures, and from his breakfast club meetings at East Hills and High Point restaurants where local men often greatly embellished their individual tales and solved the problems of our world. The fact is most of his tall tales were actually quite true. He was certainly unhappy when those wonderful meeting places closed their doors forever. He enjoyed reading, riding around his farm on his Kubota, watching movies about the Civil War and cowboys and Indians, and was a huge fan of Fox News. He is survived by his four children: Susan Deavers (Danny), Will C. Morrison III, Charles I. Morrison (all of Dickson), and Margo Jacobs (Phil) of Houston, Texas as well as eight grandchildren, Joe Owens, Miranda Melton, Charles Morrison, Jr., McKensie Morrison, Will C. Morrison IV, Garrett Cummins Morrison, Samuel Deavers, and Leah Jacobs, and four great-grand children, Emma, Audrey, Erica, and Christopher. Memorials celebrating Will's life can be made to: the Sylvia Church of Christ, 1002 Church Street, Dickson, Tennessee 37055, or the Nashville Gun Club, 1100 County Hospital Road, Nashville, Tennessee 37218 (615) 742-5297. Funeral arrangements are shared between Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home in Nashville and Spann Funeral Home in Dickson. Visitation was at Spann Funeral Home Tuesday from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Services will take place at Spann's Wednesday at 11 a.m. to celebrate and remember Will's colorful life. Condolences may be offered at www.Woodlawn-Roesch-Patttonfh.com.

As always, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May, and this year it falls on May 12.

Through the years, I've tried really hard to focus on the good and not dwell on the bad.

A number of roads and houses suffered damages in April's flash flood in Houston County.

Last week, we were talking with friends about their pets, and I was reminded that many of us have furry friends that eventually become members of our families.

Losing a foot of drywall gave Kevin Suggs a new appreciation for his community. "Yesterday we had 15 to 20 people come pitched in, the police chief, people at city hall, neighbors and we just seeing after each other," said Suggs.

The driver of this vehicle, Jr. Boone of Dover, escaped unharmed shortly after midnight Sunday.

Heavy, rapid rain caused some major flooding and damage to roadways, homes, and businesses in Stewart and Houston County Saturday night and early Sunday morning.

Local residents were greeted with warm weather and many friendly faces at Thursday's groundbreaking ceremony for the new Tennessee Ridge City Hall.

March - the same month when mass layoffs at Hemlock Semiconductor LLC officially took effect - brought a slight increase in the unemployment rate for Clarksville-Montgomery County.

Last week, I was listening to a Christian radio program on my way in to work, and the host asked callers to respond to a question posted by another listener.

"We are honored to play a role in the success of students in the neighborhoods we serve," said John Peck, president and CEO of Heritage Bank.