HARLINGEN — Friends and former associates yesterday shared remembrances of Frank J. Morris, the long-time face of the Republican Party in Cameron County.
Morris, 83, died Saturday at Golden Palms Retirement and Healthcare Center.
The Michigan native came to Harlingen following his retirement after 21 years in the U.S. Air Force, finishing with the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
For three decades he was a guiding force for the GOP in the Valley, serving two terms as Cameron County Republican chairman with the second ending in 2015.
He also served two terms on the State Republican Executive Committee.
“I knew him very well, he was off and on the Republican chairman in Cameron County,” former Harlingen mayor Connie de la Garza said yesterday. “He was a good man, and he was a straight arrow.
“Just like everything else in politics, you’ve got the people who like you, and the people who dislike you,” de la Garza added.
“But Frank Morris in my opinion always ran a tight ship and ran it the way it should be run.”
Sharon Batterson of Harlingen, who like Morris is serving her second term on the SREC, said the overwhelmingly Democratic voting patterns in the Valley were a challenge which Morris attacked head-on for the Republican Party.
“He did serve long and hard down here in a job that was not always easy because we’re in the minority down here,” Batterson said.
Morris also cut a broad path in Texas politics as well, counting state and national Republicans among friends and colleagues, such as former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and former governor and president George W. Bush.
“Pacokell — he was always giving everybody a nickname, and that’s the one he gave Frank,” Batterson said of Bush, adding Morris liked it so much, he used it as his email handle.
Morris was selected among Who’s Who of Republicans and served as Texas caucus chairmen at several Republican national conventions.
“He’s just going to be really missed by all of us who served in the party,” Batterson added. “I always said that Frank had the uncanny ability to see your potential before you knew you could do something … and you would surprise yourself.”
Morris earned a bachelor of science degree from Northwestern University in Chicago, and masters in public relations from Boston University.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Ann Welles Morris.
A memorial gathering will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. at Buck Ashcraft Funeral Home, 710 Ed Carey Drive.
