Richard Donald Morris, 70, of Fort Benton, Montana, passed away due to complications of COPD on March 27, 2022, at Benefis Hospital in Great Falls, MT.  Visitation will be Tuesday April 5 th from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at Benton Funeral Home. Rick's services will be held at the Montana Agriculture Center in Fort Benton, Montana, Wednesday, April 6 th at 11:00 a.m. with Pastor Kit Miller officiating.  Burial will follow at the Riverside Cemetery. Benton Funeral Home has been entrusted with services and arrangements.  Please visit Rick's online memorial page to send a card or leave a message of condolence for his family.

Rick was born in Fort Benton, MT, August 24, 1951, to Donald and Beverlee Morris. The son of two young parents, Rick's dad had recently accepted a Football Scholarship to play for Montana State College in Bozeman, MT.  Rick's dad passed away from a tragic accident while hunting.   The devastating accident left Rick's mother with the responsibilities of raising Rick.  Beverlee was 19 at the time of her husband's death.

Soon after, Beverlee started dating a farmer whose parents happened to live right next to Bev.  At that time Rick was 2 years old.  Beverlee married Lloyd Allen.  Bev and Lloyd went on to have four other children.  Kemiel, Kathy, Terry, and Kristin.  In the early 70's the family of seven experienced extreme adversity when Beverlee was diagnosed with cancer.  In 1974 the cancer became too much, and Beverlee passed away.  Rick was 25 when his mother passed, and the oldest of his four siblings.

Rick spent two stints in the college academic arena.  A member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity in Bozeman, rooming with not only friends he knew prior to college, along with gaining additional fraternity brothers he met in Bozeman.

When Rick enrolled at Montana State University in the Fall of 1969- Rick didn't have a specific academic area of focus.  Rick's mentality was if there was interest, he was going to put everything he had into it.  Perhaps it was calculus, physics, etc. that made Rick realize he enjoyed poker night at the Sigma Chi Fraternity. Verse attending courses were of no interest.  No interest, no effort.  Rick was intelligent.  Subjects such as History, Geography, Government, were Rick's niche.  Policy, Montana Code, and the league of cities and towns became Rick's forte throughout his two decades as mayor.  From the year Rick graduated in 1969 until close to his marriage, Rick lived life in a way any occupation could be his future career.

In the mid 70's Rick spent one- or two-years managing Signal Point Golf Club in Fort Benton, MT.  The course was built in 1969 leaving no opportunity to participate in high school golf.  It wasn't shortly after the nine-hole course was completed that Rick and a great friend and classmate, Bill Larson, developed an interest for the game of golf.  They started their playing days with a bag/club combo from a local chain store (i.e., Target, K-Mart, Wal Mart, etc.)  They bought instructional books and began fine tuning the art of golf.  Bill and Rick spent a couple winters in Mesa, Arizona working on a golf course and playing whenever they had free time.  Soon they became one of the elite two-man teams in the state of Montana.

In the mid 70's, Rick started dating Brenda Winden and they were wed in 1978.  In 1984 they had their first child, Kelsey Jean Morris.  Kelsey was full of life and brought that extra light to the family.  In 1989, Karson Michael joined the young family.

Currently, Rick was in full swing farming with his brothers and running his custom spraying business.   Kelsey and Karson decided to join the local swim team in 1995.  This commitment allowed Rick to manage his work schedule around the week.  His dedication to Kelsey and Karson was evident.  Even though the boys were busy with their farm work, Rick rarely missed a swim meet.  His kids meant the world to him and there weren't many things Rick didn't support if it pertained to his children.

Rick was a fierce Montana State Bobcat fan. He saw the football team play for the National Championship and win the Big Sky Conference in basketball in the same year-two accomplishments that made the ole man chipper.  Often, we knew the score of the game just from Rick's reactions downstairs, not even having to turn the game on upstairs.

In 2002 Kelsey was graduating high school and Karson had also begun to develop an interest in golf.  From then on for close to five years.  Rick played golf every Sunday with his son, teaching him the game as he knew.  Sure, enough Karson became hooked and the two were focused on developing Karson's golf game.  While Rick was still Mayor at the time along with farming, he balanced his schedule to make time for what he called the "Sunday Lesson."

Rick retired from farming in 2016 ~ a 40-year career.

Rick's dedication and service to the citizens of Fort Benton can't be put into words.  Serving as Mayor for 23 years, nine months, and 20 days along with 6 six years as a council member he was extremely passionate about the community and its future.

Rick retired as Mayor in the fall of 2022.  Rick had been recommended at the Federal level to serve as Montana's State Farm Service Agency Executive Director.  Rick interviewed effectively and in March of 2022 was offered the position and accepted the job.  An honor Rick was truly looking forward to.

Richard D. Morris was preceded in death by his daughter, Kelsey Jean Morris; dad's, Lloyd Allen and Donald Morris; his mother, Beverlee Morris; sister, Kathy Gallagher; brother-in-law, Brian Winden; mother and father in-law, Harold and Bernie Winden; and nephew Mark Allen.

Rick is survived by Brenda Morris; brothers, Kem (Gail), and Terry (Roxie); sister, Kristen (Don); stepmom, Deanna Allen; sisters, Anita and Caroline; and lastly, son Karson Michael Morris and grandson Griffin Michael Morris.