TERRY ALAN MORRISON
September 19, 1945 ˜ December 13, 2020

On Dec. 13, 2020, at 3:30 a.m., Terry Alan Morrison passed peacefully at his home in Gig Harbor, WA. He fought an unrelenting battle with metastatic colon cancer for five years. He met every challenge with ferocious bravery, dogged determination, dignity, humor and resignation.
Born Sept. 19, 1945, to Clinton Hardy Morrison and Kathleen May Morrison in Glenwood, MN, Terry graduated from Evergreen High School in 1963. It was there that his passion for aviation was ignited.
At 16, Terry earned his pilot’s license and, at 17, his private license. This allowed him to fly passengers. Soon after he joined his father, Bud, at his business, Air Ambulance Northwest, where they transported patients to and from the Portland-Vancouver area, carried mail for Loomis Courier Service, monitored the pipelines for NW Natural Gas and patrolled Gifford Pinchot Forest for fires out of Trout Lake, WA. Terry was also a proud veteran of the US Army.
For the rest of his life, Terry lived to fly. He continued his career path with jobs at Pape Brothers, Pacific Air and Rockwell. In 1996, Terry ended his career with the “dream job” as a corporate pilot for Weyerhaeuser Company in Washington state. He traveled the world and flew all kinds of passengers from movie stars to a vice president and “never left anyone up there” he was proud to say.
On April 17, 2020, Terry was presented the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award “in recognition for 50 years of exemplary aviation flight experience, distinguished professionalism and steadfast commitment to aviation safety.” He was so honored.
Though aviation provided him the “dream career,” it was flying to Grants Pass and surprising his three young grandsons with an airplane ride and teaching his 65-year-old best friend, Pete, to fly, that were the highlights. In his retirement, Terry loved traveling with Denise and his dogs, watching Seattle Mariners and Seattle Seahawks games and, in the end, the notes and memories shared by friends, colleagues and family gave him so much joy.
Terry was loving, generous, warm, friendly, strong-willed, neat, loyal, kind, funny and grateful. Though Terry was inspired by his love for aviation, he was sustained by his love for his family, friends and animals. He will be very, very missed.
He is survived by loving wife, Denise; daughters, Tammi, Teely and Kelle; beloved grandsons, Zachery, Brayden and Michael; and brothers, Darby, Randy and Kelly.
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