Charles S. "Charlie" Morrison

Charlie Morrison, 93, of Grants Pass, died at home on top of his beloved mountain just where he wanted to be on Monday, December 10, 2012.

A Celebration of Life, will be at 11:00 a.m., Friday, December 28, 2012 at Parkway Christian Center with Pastor Wes Winn officiating. A light lunch will follow. Hull & Hull Funeral Directors are in charge of arrangements.

Born October 1, 1919 in Grants Pass, OR to Frederieka Krauss Morrison & Charles Montreville Morrison was raised near the corner of 7th & L Street along with his two siblings, older brother Fritz and younger sister Eleanor.

Charlie started working at 10 years old with a paper route and never stopped. He became a box-boy at Mac’s Market, later Byrd’s Market (now Gates Furniture).

He graduated from Grants Pass High School in 1937, and was employed at First National Bank from 1939-1949.

Charles married Miriam Tracy on June 22, 1942 with whom he had four children, Vicki, Gary, Pamela, and Michael.

While on a bank assignment he was exposed to auctioneering. Against the common sense of the day he gave up banking, took a crash course at an auction school in Indiana, and came home to strike out on his own. Miriam became his partner in the Pacific Auction Co. where Monday & Thursday were “auction nights” & Saturday was for outside auctions of estates, farms, and commercial holdings.

In 1964 he leased out the auction property and built an auction/real estate office and from that point on conducted his auctions on site.

Charlie was extremely active in his community. From the 1950’s on he was active in Kiwanis (President 1961), Shriners, then Masons, and Rotary. He is a Paul Harris Fellow & lifetime member and a member of the Oregon Association of Realtors of which he was President for several years.

The main way Charlie used his skills to benefit this community was as a fundraiser through benefit auctions, many of which he did yearly. The last auction he did for the Boys & Girls Club, $80,000 was raised – quite a feat in a small town. (He always said Grants Pass was full of wonderful generous people.) He often would stimulate an extra amount of generosity, as he did on this night to help a major acoustical problem in their new building, by offering to “match funds” to whatever was offered. The crowd was delighted to see him groan about parting with more than he bargained for.

Others who benefited were Zonta International, Rotary, Active Club, Ducks Unlimited, Rogue Community Collage, Women’s Medical Clinic, Oregon Hunter’s Association & St. Anne’s Catholic Church.

He was a lifelong member of the first Christian Church on a 4th and H Street in Grants Pass.

One of his last gifts was his old auction property to he Rotary Club to develop in a community park. Morrison Centennial Park is now part of our county park system.

Charlie’s 54 year stint as an auctioneer included over 4,000 auctions, among them a sawmill, estates, timber, farms & equipment, restaurants, antiques, livestock, cars, as well as inventories from a department store, a hardware store, and a grocery store. He sold warehouse inventories for Litton Industries both in Oregon and in upper New York State. He liked to say he felt like he’d sold almost everything in Grants Pass twice.

His wife Miriam died in 1985. He is survived by three of his four children, son Gary passed away in 1994; Vicki Morrison Magallon/John – Pamela Morrison Schrimpf/Kurt, and Michael J. Morrison/Julie. His ten grandchildren are Tari and Bret Morrison; Jason and Justin Erickson; Erin, Jennifer, and Molly-Anne Schrimpf; Michael, Jamie, and Jodie Morrison. He also has five step-grandchildren - John, Doug, Loretta, Steven, and Robert Magallon and sixteen great-grandchildren.