John Richard 'John Richard "Rich" Mor Morris

John Richard "Rich" Morris, born November 25, 1973 in Enid, OK, passed away on Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at his home in Altadena, California. He is survived by his parents, Nancy and Joe Warren of OKC, OK; Joe and Jean Morris of Enid, OK; his brother, Robert Warren and sister-in-law Jennifer; sisters Kim Morris and Karen Morris; his grandmother, Helen Laughlin, and many aunts, uncles, and cousins too numerous name. Rich is preceded in death by Grace and Virgil Morris, John Laughlin, sister Kelly Bishop, Aunt Jeannie Wilson, Cousin Carter Cowen, and other beloved relatives. Richard graduated from Memorial High School in 1992 in Edmond, OK and attended East Central University in Ada, OK. He received degrees from Pepperdine University and the University of Southern California in Natural Science and Aerospace Engineering. He was employed for the last 10 years at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/NASA in Pasadena, CA, where he held several positions on the Mars Rover team, including Mission Manager, and was most recently working on the new rover, Mars Science Lab. Rich enjoyed playing guitar, trumpet and singing lead for his band, Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!. Rich also enjoyed traveling, playing soccer, theater at Cal-Tech, and watching Sooner football. He was an excellent photographer, actor, musician and singer. His co-workers and friends have said that Rich was a brilliant engineer, talented musician, had a great sense of humor, was thoughtful, kind, always smiling, caring, and was a true gentleman. He gave the best hugs ever, had great blue eyes and a wonderful smile. Richard cherished his time with friends and family and will be greatly missed by many people.