HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 29 Offered March 7, 2006 Commending J. T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home & Cremation Service. ---------- Patrons-- Dance, Cox, Ingram and Nixon ----------

WHEREAS, in 1856 James Tolleison Morriss II, whose family had emigrated from Wales to America in the early 19th century, opened J. T. Morriss & Company, a furniture and undertaking establishment, in downtown Petersburg; and

WHEREAS, J. T. Morriss, who had apprenticed with a successful furniture and undertaking business, found success on his own, building a business on his reputation for fairness and honesty; and

WHEREAS, five years after the business was founded, the onset of the Civil War caused great demand for the services of J. T. Morriss & Company, and J. T. Morriss' business grew and prospered; and

WHEREAS, on his death in 1890, J. T. Morriss was succeeded by his son, Charles L. Morriss, who took over the family business and guided it through two decades of advancements and changes in the funeral industry; and

WHEREAS, in 1924 the business was incorporated as J. T. Morriss & Son, Inc., and Charles Morriss' son, J. T. Morriss IV, took over the responsibility of running the business; and

WHEREAS, today, the fifth and sixth generations of the Morriss family continue to run J. T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home & Cremation Service, which remains successful because of a century-and-a-half commitment to fairness, honesty, and compassion; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That the J. T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home & Cremation Service  be hereby commended on the occasion of its 150th anniversary; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to J. T. Morriss V and J. T. Morriss VI, managers of J. T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home & Cremation Service, as an expression of congratulations and best wishes of the House of Delegates.