Herbert Morris 1915-2009 Last surviving member of 1936 Olympic Gold Crew Team
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H. Roger Morris, 94, who manned the bow position on the University of
Washington crew that won the eight-oared gold medal at Adolph Hitler's
1936 Olympics in Berlin, died Wednesday at his home in Maple Valley.
By Bud Withers
Seattle Times staff reporter
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The University of Washington crew won the Olympic gold medal in 1936
in Berlin, Germany. H. Roger Morris is on the far left. He was the
team's last surviving member.
H. Roger Morris lived in Maple Valley and grew up in Fremont.
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The last surviving link to one of Seattle's greatest sports
achievements has died.
H. Roger Morris, 94, who manned the bow position on the University of
Washington crew that won the eight-oared gold medal at Adolph Hitler's
1936 Olympics in Berlin, died Wednesday at his home in Maple Valley.
Mr. Morris was the only remaining member of the crew, four of whom
lived into their 90s. Bonded forever by their come-from-behind victory
in the last Olympics before World War II wiped out the Games in 1940
and 1944, the rowers for many years had annual, informal reunions, one
with families, the other for themselves only.
"I couldn't help but think, he was going to miss the reunion this
year," said Bob Ernst, longtime rowing coach at Washington. "He was
all by himself."
Ernst called Mr. Morris "a very humble guy, such a good guy. I don't
think the gold medal ever became the focus of his life."
A daughter, Joan Mullen, said her father lived most of his years in
the Seattle area. He earned a degree at Washington and became a
mechanical engineer, specializing in dredging at Manson Construction.
Mr. Morris grew up in Fremont, attended Lincoln High School, and often
walked to or from classes at the UW, his daughter said.
"Fremont was just plain poor then," she said, referring to the
Depression era. "One year, he had an old Model-T [Ford] from his
father that he was able to drive to school. Then his father needed it
for someone who worked for him.
"He'd go to classes, go work out and then walk home. He said he got
rides once in a while."
All the members of that Olympics-winning shell were from Western
Washington, and none had rowed until going to the UW. Mullen recalls
her father being pointed toward the sport by teammate Joe Rantz, who
died at 93 in 2007.
The rowers had a phenomenal 1936 season, but had to raise money to
help finance their trip. They joined Olympic teammates in New York on
a steamship for the eight-day journey to Germany.
There, they conquered adversity. Hitler, three years before his
invasion of Poland, was in the stands, and a deafening crowd of 25,000
chanted "Deutschland! Deutschland!" Meanwhile, stroke Don Hume of
Olympia had become ill during the Games.
In the final, the Germans were placed in Lane 1 and the U.S. in Lane
6, where, coxswain Bob Moch told The Times in 2004, "the wind was
blowing and the water was rough."
The Americans got a late start and because of the crowd noise, relied
on Moch rapping against the boat for cadence.
Legend has grown that Hume had temporarily passed out, eyes closed,
but snapped back to consciousness, something Hume disputed in a 1996
Times story.
Last at the 1,000-meter halfway mark, the boat overtook Germany and
finally Italy in the last 10 strokes as Moch called for a furious
strokes-per-minute rate that he estimated at 44.
"At the time, we weren't a major-league sports city," Ernst said. "We
hadn't won a national championship in football or basketball. People
identified with the university rowing team.
"They were as good as they could be in the era they got to do it."
Mullen said her father cut grass regularly on a rider mower at his
Maple Valley ranch within a month of his death.
He was joined by his three children and most of his grandchildren at a
restaurant for his 94th birthday only last week.
He rebuffed any suggestion of moving off his property, she said. "He'd
say, 'That's fine,' Ms. Mullen recalled, " 'but I'm not leaving.' "
Mr. Morris is survived by two daughters, Mullen and Susan Hanshaw, and
a son, James Morris, all living in the Seattle area; seven
grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. A memorial service will
be at 3 p.m. Monday at Maple Valley Presbyterian Church.