Lt. Col. John C. Morrison

A funeral service celebrating the life of Lieutenant Colonel John Clement Morrison, USAF, Retired, age 91, of Fairborn, will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 8, at the Thornville home of Hoskinson Funeral & Cremation Service. Burial will take place in Fairmount Cemetery where military honors will be observed by the Licking County Veterans Alliance. Friends may call from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. prior to the service at the funeral home, 56 South Main Street in Thornville.John was born October 6, 1924 in Thornville, Ohio to the late Forest and Dorothy (Richter) Morrison. He passed away on Sunday, October 2, 2016 at Brookdale Fox Run in Fairborn. John retired from the United States Air Force after 30 years of distinguished service, retiring in 1973 from Wright Patterson Air Force Base. John had an extensive military career which began when he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps on March 29, 1943. He went through the aviation cadet program and completed his pilot training, receiving his wings in 1944. He also completed Meteorology school in 1946 and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology from the University of California at Berkley in 1956. From Nov. 1948-Jan. 1950, John was stationed on Okinawa. Returning to the States in 1950, John was a weather officer and pilot first at Columbia Center, OH and then at Donaldson AFB, SC. He was then stationed at Kindley AFB, Bermuda, flying the WB-29 in the famous Hurricane Hunters squadron, and stayed with the squadron when they moved to Burtonwood AFB, England. He was then weather officer and pilot at Castle AFB, CA, and then flew the WB-50 with the Hurricane Hunters at Burtonwood AFB and Alconbury AFB, England. He was then stationed at Ramstein AFB, Germany and subsequently became commander of the weather detachment at Suffolk County AFB, NY before continuing on with the Orleans Army Aviation Station and Heidelberg Army Aviation Weather Detachment. From 1968-69 he flew the C-123K aircraft from Danang AFB in Vietnam in support of Special Forces. From November 1969-May 1973, he was commander of the weather detachment at Wright Patterson AFB, OH, from which he retired. During his career John received numerous medals including the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross for excellence while in aerial flight in a combat zone and the Air Force Air Medal for distinguishing himself while in aerial fight.Following his retirement, John was employed with the Ohio Womens Reformatory in Marysville where he was business manager for fifteen years.John and his wife attended Protestant services at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. He enjoyed golf, bicycling, photography, exercising, hunting for walnuts and traveling with his wife and family throughout the world.He is survived by his wife of 71 years, Mary Louise (Greathouse) Morrison, whom he married April 25, 1945; children, Roger Morrison of Flower Mound, TX, Karen Morrison of Superior, CO and John (Lisa Lelbach) Morrison of Marysville; seven grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; brother, James Morrison of Thornville; many nieces and nephews; and brother-in-law, Arza Smalley of Alexandria, VA.In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a daughter, Jeanette Sloane; a sister, Betty Smalley; and sister-in-law, Helen Morrison.Hoskinson Funeral & Cremation Service is honored to care for John and his family.