Hughes Bentley Morris, Jr.
Hughes Bentley Morris, Jr., age 91, of Lincoln, passed away August 20, 2023. Services will be held at Elkhorn Hills United Methodist Church (20227 Veterans Dr., Elkhorn) on Saturday, September 30, 2023. Visitation will be from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.
Celebration of Life will begin at 11:30 with luncheon to follow.
In lieu of flowers, memorials
may be sent to: Hughes B. Morris, Jr. Memorial Fund, c/o Elkhorn Hills United Methodist Church, 20227 Veterans Dr., Elkhorn, NE 68022; or Hughes B. Morris, Jr. UMC Seminary Scholarship Fund, 100 West Fletcher Ave., Suite 100, Lincoln, NE 68521.
Hughes Bentley Morris, Jr., was born on November 8, 1931, to Hughes Bentley Morris, Sr., and Ruth Annette Clark Morris in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
He graduated from Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa. He attended seminary at Garret-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.
He received his Master of Counseling from the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
Hughes and Janet Gill were married September 7, 1952, in Elizabeth, Illinois. They had three children, Stephen, John, and Susan. They celebrated 50 years of marriage before Janet passed away in May of 2003.
Hughes married Margaret Elley on June 17, 2006.
Hughes followed in the footsteps of his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather in becoming a minister. He was a Chaplin for the Montgomery Fire Department. He was ordained an Elder and served churches in Iowa and Illinois before moving to Nebraska in 1964. There he served in Palisade and Shelton before being appointed as District Superintendent on the Nebraska Cabinet for the East District. Following his term on the Cabinet, he moved to Gehring, Beatrice and Aurora. He retired from full-time ministry in 1994. Hughes then began working part-time at Elkhorn Hills UMC, retiring as Pastor Emeritus in 2012 after 60 years of ministry.
Hughes was part of a missionary trip for the Board of Disciples in Bolivia and Brazil in 1965. He belonged to the Optimist Club in Omaha and was a Mason in good standing for 70 years. He served on several committees and boards for the United Methodist Church and was a mentor to many new pastors. He lived his faith his whole life. The day before he passed he was still singing hymns and reciting the Lord’s Prayer.
He is survived by his wife, Margaret Elley, of Lincoln; children, Stephen (TJ) Morris, of LaVista, John (Cheryl) Morris, of Omaha, and Susan (Daniel) Matuella, of Omaha; brother, Fred (Argentina) Morris, of Nicaragua; stepbrothers, Paul (Mary Kay) Blanchard, of Estes Park, Colorado, and Evan (Wendy) Blanchard, of Madison, Wisconsin; stepsister, Carol Blanchard, of Estes Park, Colorado; members of Margaret and Hughes’ blended family, Pam (Lonnie) Goodrich, of Bennet, Terri Deems, of Lincoln, Cindy Molina, of Weslaco, Texas, and Cathy Goldman, of Lincoln; grandchildren, Karren, Dyane, Jason, Stacy, Stephanie, Keri, Eric, Allie, Bentley, Alexander, Zachary, Felicia, Jennie, Angie, Tyler, Jordan, Annie, Ben, Carmen, Melissa, Amy, Tish, and Rhea; along with many great-grandchildren, greatgreat- grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Hughes also encompassed the Elley family members with his love and that love was returned.
Hughes was preceded in death by his wife, Janet; parents, Hughes, Sr., and Ruth Morris; stepmother, Ellen Schroder; and grandson, Sean Powers.