A tribute to Lance Morrison – July 7, 1957 – July 2, 2012


As I sit here this morning it has been several days now since I heard about Lance’s passing and like many people we are trying to make sense of it all.

It is strange how news of such an event can take the wind out of your sails and gives us another reminder of how fragile life is.  Today would have been Lance’s fifty fifth birthday.

When I first moved to Alaska Lance was one of the first people I met when I started working.  He dropped by my office to talk with my boss about several projects we were doing and his company was providing the insulation.  We chatted for a bit and then Lance wanted to take us out to lunch to get to know me more since I had just arrived.

We talked and shared stories about ourselves, some good & bad and I realized that I liked his attitude and how much he embraced the “give a guy a chance” in life.  He said we all need ‘second chances’ and he was grateful that after problems in his own life someone was willing to give him a break so he continued that philosophy as long as I knew him.

Lance gave my son a job at one time working for him and also he continues to do computer IT work to this day.  Giving of himself all the time to so many people will be Lance’s legacy from this life and he will surely be missed.

We took a trip down to Homer in September 2009 to spend a couple days fishing and crabbing and it was one we both remembered fondly as we spent hours talking about life, its events in our lives and family.  It was a great trip and fixing fresh halibut and Dungeness crab just out of the water was the best.  We moored up in a cove close to Seldovia each night and tended our crab pots.



There were many lunches at The Long Branch with his staff and we worked many projects together over the years.  I will always fondly remember Lance’s company Christmas party every year as he always had king crab as the center point with a huge cooking pot going even if it was blowing snow and cold as could be.





To Patty and Lance’s co-workers, my heartfelt condolences during this difficult time, we have all lost a friend, a husband, and someone we could always look up to showing us how to live our life helping others.

I have to remind myself of the philosophy that he’s not dead; Lance has gone on ahead scouting for the rest of us.  So long my friend.

I do know that I have prepared a list of things to ask God when I got to see him and I just added another question. I want to ask God “How does a baby know to look you in the eyes?” and “who really was on the grassy knoll?” and now I want to ask “What was so darn important that you had to take Lance with you now?”

Lance Morrison, God bless you and your memories. My heart is with you, your family and your multitude of friends.

Your friend,
D. Whittington

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