Charles & Kathryn Morris

In 1953, Dr. Charles N. Morris, his wife, M. Kathryn Morris and their four children left their Columbia University housing apartment on West 121st Street and headed across the George Washington Bridge for  a suburban life that would better accommodate their growing family.

They settled on Leonia for its friendly, small town atmosphere and close proximity to Teachers College, Columbia, where Dr. Morris was a professor In Applied Human Development and Guidance. He was also the New York Regional Testing Director for the American Institute for Research and tested pilots for various airlines. His pace of his life over the last decade and a half had been furious.

He served as a master sergeant in the European theater during World War II in the mobile headquarters of General Omar Bradley, in London, France and Germany. After the war, he earned his M.A. and Ph. D. at Teachers College, Columbia University, in 1951 and joined the faculty, where he was employed until his death in 1977.

Charles and “Kay” became part of the fabric of the Leonia community. They had three more children and would be active coaching skeeter league and midget league baseball. They were parishioners at St. John's RC Church, where Kay was a member of the Altar Society. They were both active in the Leonia Recreation Commission and the committee to create the Leonia Recreation Center. They were both members of the Community Chest and each served terms as Community Chest leaders. 

In the mid 1960s, Charles and Kay were active in the civil rights movement and marched for fair housing opportunities in Leonia. 

The family enjoyed what Leonia had to offer. All seven children graduated from Anna C. Scott School and Leonia High School, They enjoyed and patronized the Broad Avenue shops and stores of the eras: shoe stores, shoe repair, clothing, soda fountains, hardware and more. They were among the first Leonia families to join the Leonia Pool.

Kay was a third grade teacher at the Lilian M. Steen School, then Principal at the Florence E. Dewey School in Bogota N.J. She was also a girl scout leader and after her retirement, she was a fifteen -year volunteer at Englewood Hospital. In her later years, she cooked, delivered and served food to the unhoused at a Manhattan shelter. Kay died on October 15, 2009 after 56 years in Leonia.

Kay and Charles Morris left a legacy of giving, service and selflessness that still ripple and sparkle in Leonia today.