Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 100

This page sponsored by JOHN ASCUAGA'S NUGGET William and Vivienne Morris i to Longview, Texas, to live with an older sister. In 1939, he moved to Las Vegas to live with another of his older sisters. While attending Las Vegas High School, Morris' interests centered on football. He was elected the most valuable player of the "Wildcats," a team that never-lost a game, was never scored upon and never gave up two consecutive first downs. In 1945, Morris went on to attend the University of Nevada's only campus in Reno and played linebacker for the Wolf Pack.

He spent so much time bragging about his high school grid team that his teammates nicknamed him "Wildcat" a name that has stuck with him to this day. After graduating from the University of Nevada, "Wildcat" went on to Washington, D.C., to work for Senator Pat McCarran, his successor, Alan Bible, and at the same time attended American University Law School. He met Vivienne Potter, a fellow Nevadan and law student who was just finishing her reign as Miss Nevada. They were married Dec. 21, 1955, and moved back to Las Vegas in 1959 when Morris was admitted to the State Bar.

Morris set up a law practice and made some investments the first at the Riverside Casino in Laughlin and later at the newly-created Holiday Casino. After ten years, the casino was sold to Holiday Inns. The leisure style of life never did suit Morris. In 1983 when the Landmark Hotel and Casino was put on the bankruptcy block, Morris could not resist purchasing it. He invested close to three-and-a-half million dollars in renovating and remodeling the hotel.

It is once again a money-making concern. Morris has always kept an active interest in the university. He served a four-year term as a member of the Board of Regents from 1970-74 and is an active member of the Wolf Pack Boosters Club and the UNR Foundation. The Morris' support of UNR cuts across all generation barriers. They recently hosted a reception for UNR-bound Las Vegas students, have hosted dinners for potential donors to the university, and are movers and shakers in the Las Vegas chapter of the UNR Alumni Association.

In 1983, the Morris' established the Alan Bible Teaching Excellence Award. Every spring two professors in the College of Arts and Science are the recipients of the awards which carry with them stipends of $1,000 and $500. II flrtlM. 8 1 UJ 1 i i i i Each year the University of Nevada Alumni Association honors prominent Nevadans by asking them to serve as Grand Marshals of the homecoming parade. This year, it will be William and Vivienne Morris who will lead the parade from Pioneer Theatre Audito rium to Mackay Stadium.

The following is a brief biography on our Grand Marshals: William W. Morris was born Sept. 13, 1927, in Enid, the youngest of 12 children. In 1932, because of the untimely death of his parents, he moved jjfpni I a i a a 1 1 ti i 2 1.