SENATE MEMORIAL 38

46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2003

INTRODUCED BY

Shannon Robinson









A MEMORIAL

TO HONOR THE MEMORY OF FORMER STATE SENATOR JOHN L. MORROW.



WHEREAS, John L. Morrow, a former state senator, died on November 21, 2002; and

WHEREAS, Johnny Morrow served in the state senate for twenty-two years, from 1971 to 1992; and

WHEREAS, the surname "Morrow" is synomynous with public service in New Mexico, as Senator Morrow was the son of a state senator and the grandson of a territorial legislator; and

WHEREAS, Senator Morrow's father, James Morrow, served in the state senate in the 1930s and 1940s; and

WHEREAS, Senator Morrow's grandfather, also known as John Morrow, served in the territorial legislature before serving three terms in the United States house of representatives; and

WHEREAS, during his years of service in the New Mexico state senate, Johnny Morrow was known as an opinionated, plain-spoken and fiery orator who also possessed a well-developed sense of humor and a heart as big as the cattle country he so loved; and

WHEREAS, Senator Morrow was a great champion of rural people and their values, and he kept those values close despite the encroachment of a faster paced way of life; and

WHEREAS, those senators who served with Johnny Morrow knew that his handshake was his bond; and

WHEREAS, Johnny had a colorful way of expressing his views, one of which was that "if you ever need a banker and lawyer at the same time, you're in real trouble"; and

WHEREAS, his cowboy wit, ever-present boots and jeans and love of ranching led some of his admirers to think of Johnny Morrow as the "Will Rogers of New Mexico"; and

WHEREAS, Senator Morrow is survived by his wife, Linda, his daughter, Sue, his sons, Mike and Tim, his mother, Helen and his sister, Marilyn;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that condolences be extended to the family and friends of former State Senator John L. Morrow, a loving and devoted New Mexican; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to the family of John L. Morrow.

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