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Robert Paul Morf, 96, Charlottesville, Va.
Obituaries · May 03, 2013
Robert Paul Morf died on April 28, 2013, at Westminster Canterbury of the Blue Ridge in Charlottesville, Va.
He was born May 8, 1916, at home in Fredericksburg, Iowa, to the late Etta M. Morf and Paul E. Morf.
He lost his ever loving wife Betty after 64 years together. She died on March 30, 2010, after a lingering illness. He was also preceded in death by his older brother, Arle, and his wife, Ruth, and by his younger brother Louis, and his, wife Marcella.
He is survived by two daughters: Heidi Elisa Morf, and her husband, Vincent Deluise of Flint Hill, Va., and Barrett (Barry) Ann Feit and her husband, Alan, of Lumberton, N.J., and their daughter, Sarah Feit of Lincoln, Neb. He is also survived by nephews and nieces Darrel Morf of Mt. Vernon, Iowa, Dano Morf of Clear Lake, Iowa, Lani Vabulas of Arlington Heights, Ill., and Sue Nath of West Windsor, N.J.
Bob graduated from Fredericksburg High School in 1934 and attended a small college in Iowa for one year. He returned home in the spring of 1935 and was diagnosed with undulant fever. He spent four months in bed and lost 40 pounds (no antibiotics). When he recovered, he took a state exam which qualified him to teach elementary grades. On Jan. 1, 1936, he was hired to teach six students in a nearby one-room country school. On his 95th birthday, Bob was delighted to renew contact with one of those students, Angela Caldwell of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Bob’s Iowa roots ran very deep.
In the fall of 1937, he enrolled in William Jewell College, Liberty, Mo. He graduated with the class of 1939 after two years and two summer sessions. He was then hired to teach Latin and history at the West Branch (Iowa) High School starting Sept. 1. After the start of the 1940 school year, Bob received a letter from the Chickasaw County Draft Board and on March 23, 1941, he enlisted in the Navy for flight training. Bob reported to the Naval Air Station in Glenview, Ill., on April 1 as Seaman 2nd Class. Of the original 33 aviation cadets, 16 completed training at the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas, and were awarded those coveted “Navy Wings of Gold.”
After a variety of assignments (Corpus Christi, Fort Worth, Chicago, Jacksonville, Lake City) Bob was finally sent to Beaufort, S.C., where he instructed students who had their wings from Pensacola or Corpus, and were training on twin engine Patrol Bombers for fleet duty. Beaufort!! It was there that Betty entered his life. She went from Alameda to Beaufort to visit friends whom she had known while living in Hawaii. Betty was an eye witness to the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
Bob was soon sent to San Diego for assignment to fleet duty and was not sent to a squadron of planes he had been instructing on as were others who had been sent to San Diego about the same time. Instead, he was assigned to a new Hospital Transport Squadron based in Alameda, but soon moved to Kaneohe. Of course, while in Alameda he renewed contact with Betty. Soon after arriving at Kaneohe, the squadron was moved to Guam. After a series of flights to a variety of islands, including some flights at low level searching for downed B-29 crews, it was soon the prime assignment for VH-3 (his squadron) to transport wounded Marines from Iwo Jima to Guam. The battle of Iwo Jima lasted from Feb. 19 to March 25, 1945. There were 28,000 Marine casualties; 8,000 died. The famous flag raising occurred on Feb. 23rd.
In early April his squadron was decommissioned, and planes were turned over to the Marines. Flight personnel were transported back to the States and on to NAS Olathe, Kan., for further assignment. Bob’s “further assignment” was on to Opa Locka, FL NAS when released. He had stayed in touch with Betty. Following a proposal by one of them (a matter of family debate!), she agreed to drive to Olathe, and they were married on August 14, 1945 — VJ Day! The whole country plus the “Sailor and Nurse in Times Square” helped them celebrate their wedding day. After a reception in Kansas City, they were off to Opa Locka.
When Bob was released from active duty on Nov. 1, 1945, he was hired by Capital Airlines, which a few years later merged with United Airlines. He later became a flight manager at Newark, N.J., and JFK Airport in New York. As a Naval and civilian pilot, Bob logged over 30,000 flight hours and flew 45 different types of airplanes.
Bob retired in 1976, and he and Betty moved to their farm near Middleburg, Va. where they lived until moving to Westminster Canterbury of the Blue Ridge, a life care retirement community in Charlottesville, Va., in 2002.
While at their farm in retirement Bob had a neighbor, Tommy diZerega, who was advised after surgery to “Walk, or Else”. Tommy and Bob completed a couple of 200-mile hikes in England. Sadly, Tommy suffered a stroke and was unable to keep on hiking, but Bob continued: two more hikes in England, one in Ireland (with daughter Heidi), one in Wales, and four in Spain with a wonderful guide, Nicholas Law. In 2005, Bob completed his last hike on the Costa Brava at age 89. Bob was always grateful to Tommy for introducing him to hiking and was certain it added years to his life and would not have happened without him.
Bob insisted that his obituary emphasize what a wonderful 64-plus years he and Betty had together, along with two wonderful, loving daughters.
He requested that in lieu of flowers contributions be made to the Westminster Canterbury of the Blue Ridge Annual Fellowship Fund, 250 Pantops Mountain Rd, Charlottesville, VA 22911 or to the Endowment Fund, Emmanuel Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 126, Delaplane, VA 20144.
Burial next to Betty in Delaplane will be private and at a later date. Heidi and Barry want to thank all of the wonderful residents and staff at WCBR (most especially the staff who work on Second Floor Health Care) for their kindness and compassion.
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