To Celebrate a Life of Love: Morris Duane Tallmon
February 26, 1946-December 18, 2020
How do you describe a hero?
An unyielding devotion to life’s most important priorities: faith in Jesus Christ, the importance of family, and service to country.
Born on February 26, 1946 in Corsicana, Texas, to Etha and James Tallmon, Morris was a mountain of a man, and to simply be in the presence of Morris was to know that these were what mattered most to him. The very embodiment of courage, humility, and discipline, Morris was as much at home around the dinner table with his family, sharing his tremendous wit and one liners, as he was on the gun range. A special forces paratrooper during the Vietnam War, Morris carried the banner of freedom proudly. Though a few stories were told, most will go forgotten, thanklessly fading with the passing of time, and that’s the way Morris would have wanted it. His selfless sacrifice for the red, white, and blue was eclipsed only by the way he served and cherished his wife and family.
Together, Morris and Brenda shared their journey with other aspiring couples as marriage sponsors at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church. Indeed, St. Francis was a spiritual home he cherished immensely and a place where he himself encountered the love of God through the Roman Catholic Church. Not only did Morris have his conversion to the Church take place at St. Francis, but he would go on leading countless other men to the faith through ACTS and as a sponsor for RCIA.
Though in his final months Morris suffered greater than most, he did so with a strength and grace inspiring to all. There was nothing he could not do or would not do, especially when it was in service to someone else, until the day he no longer could.
Morris’ legacy of service and love lives on in his beloved spouse Brenda, children, grandchildren, and extended family. Saint Paul’s words in the Second Letter to Timothy encapsulate Morris’ final moments and what he would want us to remember:
“I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance.”