Arthur Holmes Morse
Feb. 18, 1922-Oct. 22, 2011
Palo Alto, California
Arthur Holmes Morse died peacefully at home in Palo Alto Oct. 22, 2011, at the age of 89.
He was born Feb. 18, 1922, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He attended Lehigh University in Pennsylvania for two years before leaving at the beginning of World War II to build essential airplane parts at Cincinnati's Baldwin Piano Factory until he joined the Navy.
On June 2, 1944, he began piloting airplanes, which quickly became his life passion. Before discharge from the Navy, for a short time he was stationed at Hickam Airfield and from there flew a private airplane around the Hawaiian Islands. In 1946, at the age of 23, he made a perfect and widely reported emergency landing in the middle of downtown Waukegan, Ill. He continued flying until giving it up at age 88, claiming "my landings aren't quite what they used to be, I'll quit while I'm ahead."
After the war, Arthur finished his education at Heald College in San Francisco with a degree in mechanical engineering. He settled his family in Palo Alto's Professorville neighborhood in 1959. Throughout his professional career, he worked as an engineer for such companies as Marchant Calculators, Lockheed and Airco Temescal. He retired from Southwall Technologies in 1995.
He was active in the Palo Alto Yacht Club in the 1960s and '70s, racing and cruising sailboats as well as teaching sailing in the Junior Division Program. He was a member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, an FAA-licensed airframe and powerplant mechanic and, during the 1950s, served as the treasurer of the Sports Car Club of America-San Francisco Bay Area Chapter. He loved motorsports of all kinds and often rode motorcycles that he restored himself or drove a vintage car. He was also an ardent reader.
He is survived by his three sons: Stephen and his wife Margery of Menlo Park; Douglas of Palo Alto; and Kenneth, his wife Susan Wickstrom, and their son Griffin of Portland, Ore.
There will be no service; the family suggests remembrances to Save the Bay (www.savesfbay.org).
Tags: veteran
