Louis Morton

Louis W. Morton, 23 of Houston, TX. passed away Sunday September 17, 1972 in Uganda where he was a Peace Corps Volunteer.

Louis Morton and another Peace Corps volunteer, Robert Freed of Madison, Wisconsin, were fired upon as they drove from Mbara to Kampala after visiting a game preserve. Freed and Morton had passed two road blocks and were passing a third when soldiers began firing, apparently without provocation. Morton suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head. Freed, slightly wounded, was picked up by soldiers. He eventually made his way to Kampala, where he contacted the American embassy.

Morton, a graduate of St. Thomas High School and the University of Houston, had been teaching high school chemistry in Uganda beginning July 1972.


From His Niece:

Louis Wayne Morton was born when my mother was 18 years of age (Celia Norma Morton Keller). He was one of my favorite uncles of all of my mother’s brothers. I remember whenever my father would leave the country while he was in the Air Force, places where we couldn’t go, he would fly into town wherever we lived and drive us and our mother back to Houston, Texas where we would live until dad would come back home before his next tour of duty. My Uncle Louis would do anything for my sister and I. I remember one time when he came back from visiting Mexico he came back with a beard and a mustache. My sister and I told him that we would not kiss him until he shaved his beard and mustache off and so he did. He would get us anything we wanted not matter what it was or how hard it was to find it. I truly miss my Uncle Louis. He meant the world to me. I wish he was still alive!!!!! I also named my son after him because I loved my uncle just that much.

– Pamela Cox


 

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7 Responses to Louis Morton

  1. Gary Grant July 11, 2021 at 8:31 pm #

    There wasn’t a kinder, friendlier, more fun-loving Peace Corps volunteer than Louis. I was in the same training group with him in Kampala, Uganda in the summer of 1972. I had the solemn honor of escorting Louis’s body back to Texas after his cruel murder.

  2. Temma Pistrang February 15, 2021 at 10:39 am #

    We were the family in that Peace Corps Group so many years ago. My children were 9, 12 and 14 years old at the time . Louis became part of our family as did most of the group but he became our big brother and we were very close. His untimely death devastated us and we shall never forget him. My husband Marvin is gone , but the rest of us will remember him forever.
    . Temma Pistrang along with Larry, Jan and Mark.

  3. Jerry Wetherall August 24, 2020 at 3:24 am #

    I joined Uganda Peace Corps in 1971 and was stationed in Jinja. I never had a chance to meet Louis but learned of his tragic death in the days leading up to our evacuation from the country. By all accounts Louis was a fine person. As we volunteers waited in Kampala for our departure a memorial service was held for Louis. He will forever be remembered by his fellow volunteers and friends in Uganda.

  4. Bonnie Avery April 10, 2020 at 12:56 pm #

    I remember Luis in Uganda— a kind person who saw the bigger picture: that Idi Amin declaring he would oust the “Asians” was racist and that he would not be part of it.

  5. David Delasanta January 9, 2020 at 11:07 am #

    Hello Pamela I was in the same Peace Corps Group in Uganda as Louis I was reminiscing with other former Peace Corps Volunteers and Louis came up in the conversation. I remember your Uncle as a very kind, thoughtful and funny man. Since he was a chemistry major and I was a physics major we had a lot in common and over our training we became friends. Reflecting almost 50 years later, Louis still stands out in my memories as a good and decent man.

  6. Patrick Schultea October 30, 2017 at 4:30 pm #

    Louis Morton was prominently honored at the fiftieth anniversary of his class at St Thomas High School in Houston Texas this weekend.
    The class honors his sacrifice tohis country.
    Patrick Schultea
    Patschultea@yahoo.com

    • Lisa Morton Romero May 28, 2018 at 2:03 pm #

      Thank you 🙏
      I am so honored to read your message today. It’s Memorial Day, so I appreciate your message that I finally read the today about Louis. I will pass it on to our family

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