Stephen James Morrison

Stephen James Morrison was born in Tyler, Texas on September 26, 1991 at Mother Frances Hospital. He passed from this life on Saturday, June 6, 2020. A memorial service in Stephen’s honor will be held on Friday, June 12, 2020 at 11:00 am at First Christian Church in Tyler, Texas with Pastors Ian Hyde, Chris Pulliam, and Ginger Brandt officiating. Because of Covid 19 regulations there will be limited seating at the memorial service; however, a celebration of Stephen’s life will immediately follow at 12:00 pm at True Vine Brewing Company in Tyler, an outside venue with greater capacity. Everyone is welcome to attend the celebration reception.

Through his early and school years, Stephen lived in Tyler, Lindale and Chandler, Texas. He attended Tyler Catholic Schools, graduating in 2010. Afterwards, he attended the University of North Texas, graduating Cum Laude, in 2014, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Radio, TV and Film.

During high school, Stephen’s love for movies lead to him filming T.K Gorman football games. He was a manager of the basketball team. He worked many part-time jobs while in school. At Pump It Up, his humor was a favorite at children’s birthday parties being a party host. He worked as a lifeguard at The Villages Resort water park. At 16 years old Stephen became a technical engineer at KTBB Radio Station.

During his college years, Stephen came home each summer to work in the Business Office at Tyler Junior College. After graduating he worked full time for TJC and then The University of Texas at Tyler in the Admissions and Recruiting Offices.

In March 2017, Stephen joined the family business working at GTM Appraisal where he immediately helped to double company production… as well as added to the air of sarcasm in the office. Stephen and his dad enjoyed taking side trips during their work schedule to places like the Davis Mountains, Big Bend National Park, Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns. Not to mention the dozens of barbeque joints and hole-in-the-wall restaurants they found. Stephen’s addition to the family business and working with him was one of family’s greatest joys because they got to spend so much time with him.

Stephen was an aficionado of movies, music, fine dining, beer, unique foods, and luxury bath products. He might sometimes shop for clothes at the Good Will Store, but would then spend $40.00 on a bottle of luxury hair shampoo.

Stephen was all about sharing a movie with his friends and family; however, sometimes there was a price to pay. Many friends and family learned the movies Stephen shared could be a three hour long foreign film with an overly detailed plot and subtitles. And when he shared a movie, he often watched you as much as he did the movie, because he wanted you to see if you liked it as much as he did….we often didn’t!

Stephen had an affinity for all kinds of music. If you were one of the lucky ones, he would occasionally gift you with a CD mix of songs that just fit a specific situation, time of life or road trip.

Family occasions were never truly underway until Stephen showed up with a wave from his big paw, a strong hug for everyone, and a boisterous laugh. He lit up the room with his happy demeanor. Stephen dearly loved his family, and treasured his special relationship with his niece, Haiven, who ran at every opportunity to greet “Uncle Stevo” with a giant jump into his arms and a big hug.

How many people can claim they have multiple large friend groups? Stephen could. He treasured his weekly activities and hanging out with his friends from True Vine and Stanley’s. Through the years he maintained close relationships with many friends and their families from his Tyler Catholic School years. His classmates from the University of North Texas meant so much to him. Fact is… everywhere Stephen studied, worked or played, he built relationships, and made new friends and we all will miss him tremendously.

Intellectually, Stephen was always a very complex person. At five years old he once cross-examined his father about the 1974 Watergate investigation and wanted to know “if Nixon was framed” during a drive home from his grandparent’s house. His dad just shook his head.

Stephen was a vivacious reader, and at an early stage in life he questioned many things others took for granted as the truth. He was not accepting of the status quo. He wanted to hear your research and understand what and why you believed. There were a number of instances that by the time he and his dad pulled into the driveway his dad realized Stephen had better support for his opinion than his father. It can be a humbling experience to concede to an eight-year old.

Through all of Stevo’s personality traits and intellectual complexities, there was one aspect of his life that was NOT complex, and that was the love he shared with so many of us. Fathers find many reasons to be proud of their children, who do many things to make them proud, but the one aspect of Stevo’s life that made us most proud of him was the love he shared with others.

And we are so thankful to have known that love.

It is comforting to our family that “Our Stevo” was the kind of man who believed it was more important to live and love like Christ, than to simply talk or boast about religious matters.

Stevo… Buddy… we all miss you so much! Our hearts are broken that you are not here with us right now. We cannot imagine how we will move forward through the rest of our lives without your big hugs, hand waves and infectious personality. As your dad, I cannot fathom how I can work in an office without you as my co-worker. While the pain we bear is so great from being separated from you, we also have a resounding peace about us, because we know that someday we will see you again.

To all of you who’ve had the joy of knowing Stephen, we ask you to honor his memory by adopting the beautiful part of his soul that compelled him to befriend and love all people. When you have a chance to meet someone new, someone different from you, just love them and accept them. And if you have the time, tell them about a guy named Stephen…that showed you how it’s done to perfection.

In lieu of flowers, we believe Stephen would be pleased to see donations made to:

Camp Heyday, The Arc of Smith County, Rhonda Boaz 903-597-0995 arcofsmithcounty.org

or

SPCA of East Texas, 4517 Old Bullard Rd., Tyler, 75703, spcaeasttx.com