O.C. Lincoln Club Leader Coalson Morris Dies at 82

Coalson Morris, a retired financier who helped start the Lincoln Club of Orange County and steer it to national prominence as a Republican fund-raising group, died at his Corona del Mar home after suffering a stroke. He was 82.

Morris, who died Thursday, served for 40 years on the board of Goodwill Industries of Orange County and received the group’s national chairman award in 1995.

“Coalson was always a gentleman,” Jean Morris, his wife of 57 years, said from the couple’s home. “He was one of the old school. Everyone liked him.”

Born in Texas on July 20, 1916, Morris moved to Orange County as a child. He was student body president of Anaheim High School and attended the University of Southern California on an athletic scholarship. He graduated in 1938 and later served as a lieutenant in the Navy during World War II.

Always an entrepreneur, Morris took pride in starting his own businesses, his wife said. He and two fraternity brothers were the first processors of concentrated orange juice in Orange County, and he later co-founded two savings and loan institutions and a bank.

Even as a student, he worked several jobs to help pay expenses without relying on his parents, who sold property in Anaheim to Walt Disney for what became the Disneyland Hotel.

“He always had some business of his own going,” Jean Morris said.

William Buck Johns, a director of the Lincoln Club, said Morris was the “heart and soul” of the 37-year-old organization that he served as president for 18 years.

“There are not a lot of giants we come in contact with, but Coalson Morris was one of the most significant guys to elevate the standards of the Republican Party in Orange County,” Johns said. “He was the best leader of the bunch.”

Besides his wife, Morris is survived by children Jeffrey Morris of Emerald Bay, Susan Morris of Newport Beach and Christine Morris of Hillsdale, near San Francisco, and three grandchildren.

Private funeral services already have been held.