William "Bud Morrison

William D. (Bud) Morrison, 84, passed away February 18, 2022. He was born in Parkersburg, WV, on May 19, 1937. He was the son of Henry Milton Morrison and Edith Mae Carpenter Morrison. He was preceded in death by his parents, sister Sally Jo, and son-in-law, Jeffrey Chad Hale. He was employed at Marbon Chemicals in December 1958 and retired as a color specialist from GE Plastics in July 1997. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Betty Grant Morrison, of Belpre and their little princess, Lacey; son, Mitch Morrison (Jill) of Alabama; daughters, Marci Hale of Mineral Wells, Missi Carpenter and Mindi Freshour, of Belpre; grandchildren, Mandi Phillips (Jonathan) of Rockport, Ashley Bonnette (Tyson) of Little Hocking; Sam Freshour (Tia) of Rockport; Emily Hale of Mineral Wells; Nathan Morrison (Alana) of Alabama; Brodi Carpenter (Tyler Burdette) of Washington; Chase Freshour (Jaylyne Morgan) of Morgantown; great grandchildren, Bralynn, Ashlynn, Dillynn, Joslynn and Kolter Bonnette; Teagan Peters and Zoey Freshour; Baylee Hale and, coming in May, Mitchell T. Morrison. He was a member of South Parkersburg Baptist Church. He and Betty were members of the Oldies 4 Wheeler Club and delivered for Meals on Wheels. Bud moved his family to a farm in Rockport where he built a horse-boarding business, and raised and showed Quarter Horses. He loved spending time with his family more than anything, especially watching his grandchildren participate in various sporting events. He was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather and is dearly missed by his family.

How do wrap up a lifetime in this time which we have together?

There are memories which you each have of Dad, Pap, or Bud. As I’m saying this, there are those of you who are thinking of those memories right now. They will bring warmth to your heart, maybe even a smile to your face.

In just a couple months, Bud would’ve been 85 years old, he was married to his wife for 63 years. He lived a very full life. He not only saw his children raised, he saw many of his grandchildren start their own families. There aren’t many people who can say this. He was a very blessed man when it came to family.

We were over at the house Monday and were talking about some of the memories. Meemaw, as we know her, Betty to some of you, was sharing about how Bud was the only person she ever dated. She shared about how they were in a Christmas play together at Red Hill EUB which is now Red Hill Methodist church. Bud was Joseph, and she was Mary. She was 14. She said she was embarrassed as a 14 year old holding a baby even though the baby was a doll.

She talked about how he worked with cows and would show them at county as well as state festivals. He worked hard with them and was very proud of his When the family was young, they would camp a lot. In listening to everyone talk, what they did, they did as a family.

He loved his family dearly. I go to see this first hand when we were invited to Morrison family gatherings.

Our connection with the Morrison clanis through our daughter, Jaylyne who is dating Chase, one of the grandchildren. Bud and my father also worked together at MarBon/Borg Warner/GE Plastics, which went to Sabic to empty field.

Anyway, we were invited to their July 4th Celebration/Chase’s birthday party. This group knows how to do fireworks. What a great time. This group loves to get together. They love to laugh.

We’re going to hear from one of Bud’s grandchildren right now. For those of you who may not know this young gentleman, his name is Nathan Morrison.

Family was the joy of his life.

While we are going to mourn and grieve the loss of a husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, family member, or friend, Bud is blessed once again and even more so in his death.

But, right now we feel the loss. We feel it deeply. I can relate with a lot of you in this room. The great-grandchildren, I was fortunate enough to know three of my great-grandparents and a step-greatgrandmother. I lost my last great-grandparent when I was 19 years old. I had great relationships with my grandparents and went on trips with them. They were a big part of my life. I know the loss you are experiencing.

I have watched my wife go through the loss of both of her parents, and know the hurt that she felt, and I have watched and continue to watch her navigate life without her mom and dad.

I watched my father-in-law go through the loss of his wife and how he lived his life without her over the next several years of his life before he passed away.

What I can tell you from watching them is that life is never going to be the same again. This is life altering. I do look at this as a piece of the puzzle in your lives is going to be missing. However, the wound does heal. For each of us, it will take different amounts of time and will be done in different ways. And just like any physical wound, there will be a scar left, but it will get easier to deal with.

Scripture talks about grieving and those who mourn.

As part of the Beatitudes, Christ tells us about those who mourn and what they are promised.

Matthew 5:4 ESV

4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Other scriptures are also there to give us comfort.

Psalm 34:18 ESV

18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

2 Corinthians 1:3–4 ESV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Many people have found comfort in the verses of the 23rd Psalm

Psalm 23:1–6 ESV

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Going back to our visit Monday evening, We also talked about Bud and Betty’s faith. While talking, Betty shared a great affection she and Bud had while they were attending Grace Baptist. Betty served as secretary for the church, and Bud was involved in a lot of different ministries and they both attended a lot of classes at Grace which helped them to grow in their faith. They were very involved and had a very strong belief built from the minister of the church at that time. It because of this, i know exactly where Bud is right now.

My belief, my faith, is after Bud took his final breath, he was in the presence of our heavenly Father.

Paul talks about this on a couple different occasions

2 Corinthians 5:8 ESV

8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

Philippians 1:23 ESV

23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

Jesus as He is hanging on the cross to the one on the cross who recognized who He was that he would be with Him in paradise.

Luke 23:43 ESV

43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Bud’s body was healed. Age had taken it’s toll on his earthly frame. The Bud many of you all knew many years ago was restored.

He is in a place where the best day on earth you can ever imagine to Bud, now seems like rags.

Revelation 21:1–5 ESV

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

This is just an introduction to what Bud is experiencing now. If you continue to read in Revelation 21 and the beginning of 22, you get a picture of what heaven in going to look like and what is and isn’t there.

He is experiencing life like he has never known it before.

He would love to share this life with you. How does that happen? You have to believe in the sacrifice that was made for you in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. You have to believe the blood which was shed for you sin and mine so we could be made righteous in the eyes of our Lord.

Understand, there isn’t anything I have done in my life to deserve this gift. There isn’t anything Bud did in his life to deserve this gift. I am far from perfect. Bud was a good man, but he was far from perfect as well. What has saved he and I is the blood which was shed on the cross to forgive our sin. We both have believed in this gift and now Bud has claimed it. One of these days, I will get to do the same.

If you have never accepted this gift of salvation, I would love to have the chance to talk with you about it.

It is because of this faith I have and many in this room have as well, we don’t mourn like those who have no hope. I have a promise that one day, I will see the same thing Bud is seeing right now. I know I will experience these things. I know I’m not only going to see Bud, I know I’m going to see Don and Janet, I’m going to see papa and mimi Morgan, I know I’m going to see Mom and Pop Easter, I know I will see Crystal, Grandma Cowley, Grandma McDowell, and Big Papa Morgan. You know, as I read through these names, I pictured them all. You will too when you talk about Bud in whatever relationship you had with him.

These next verses are the ones I hold on to. They are a promise from our heavenly Father on how end time events are going to happen for those of us who believe in Christ.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 ESV

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

So with these words, while we feel our loss for those who have gone before us, we have the promise of being united with them once again. My prayer for you as immediate family, my prayer for us as extended family, my prayer for those who were friends is that while we grieve and we miss Bud, we continue to live our lives to honor him and his legacy he left and that we will live in the promise of one day being reunited with those in the faith.

In the days ahead, as you think of Bud, please pray for the family as they mourn. Please remember them as they will start living their lives and putting things back together. Lift them up as they continue to move forward. As much as we would like for the world to pause in order for us to get things back together, it won’t. But we know we have a strength in our Father God and His Holy Spirit which can see us through this time.

Let’s pray.

Graveside

Is I shared before, we know that when we take our final breath, our soul leaves this earthen vessel the Lord has given us, and we are in His presence. We realize this is a place we will come and remember a husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and friend, but he isn’t here. He is in heaven praising God with the angels.

In Ecclesiastes 3, we are told that from dust we came and from dust we will return, but if you read further in the same book it also tells us what will happen to tho spirit of those who believe in God.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 ESV

7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

And so we will return this body to the ground from which it came with the promise of one day being reunited with our loved one at a time of our heavenly Father’s choosing. To the family, we will pray for you in the days ahead that our Father God through the gift of His Holy Spirit will bring you comfort when needed. Know this is a journey you don’t have to walk alone. There are many people here today, as well as those who aren’t, who love you dearly and will be there to listen and support you. You are not alone.

Let’s pray.