One of O.A.R.S.’ First Guides, Jack Morison, Passed Away

Jack Morison, one of O.A.R.S.’ very first whitewater rafting guides, passed away Wednesday, August 13th at 9:08 a.m.   He was surrounded by family.  Jack had many friends rally around him during his final days.
 
Jack’s brother Tom, says there will be a memorial on Sept 13th in Mill Valley.  We have no doubt there will be some great stories there reminding us of a man known for his ability to connect.
 
One of the great stories about Jack’s life came recently to George Wendt, O.A.R.S. Founder and President, from fellow Grand Canyon river guide Kristor Lawson:
 
The quintessential Jack story for me happened at 110 Mile Camp in the Grand Canyon. There is no rapid there, really, but the current really cooks as it passes by the camp, so that the large eddy that formed the camp’s beach is also very strong. We went to bed with the boats tied end to end, as usual, each of us sleeping on his boat. Jack’s boat was at the end of the line, while mine was first, moored to a tamarisk.
 
At about 3 am I woke up instantly and completely for no reason I could figure out, but with a vague feeling that something was dreadfully wrong. It was a very dark night: no moon, partly cloudy. I counted the boats, and came up one short. I counted again, two more times, with the same result. Jack’s boat was no longer at the end of the string. I ran out to the end, waking everyone: "Jack’s gone!" It was really a dreadful moment. When I got to the last boat I looked out into the eddy, and saw a vague shape; after a while we figured out it was his boat, circulating. We roared and roared, and eventually Jack woke up.   ~ Kristor  
 
George added:

I recruited Jack Morison as one of our first river guides, when he was just 15.  He had been in one of my 8th grade math classes at Paul Revere Junior High School in West Los Angeles.  In April of 1970, Jack was selected to pilot one of our rafts on one of our first trips from Diamond Creek to Pearce Ferry.  He then became one of our regular guides for our early 2-day trips on the Stanislaus River.  Jack was one of the most proficient of our raft captains and he was on our first exploratory trip to Chile to run the Bio Bio River in 1978.  Jack had a caring attitude and he positively impacted the lives of so many of our passengers.  Jack will be greatly missed!
 
Do you have a story you would like to share about Jack?  We would love to hear them, and we will post them here and pass them along to his family.  Feel free to submit them here or at info@oars.com

Our thoughts are with his family and friends…