Community activist.
Born at Winnipeg on 16 February 1933 to Jenny Kankewit and Morris Moscovitch, he grew up in the North End with his sister and two brothers and graduated with honours from Isaac Newton High School. During his teen years, he became a Sea Cadet and remained committed to the program for 20 years. His first jobs were working in a fur factory and then as a clerk-typist for the Engineering Department of the City of Winnipeg.
In 1951, he began with CN Rail, rising to the position of Senior Market Development Officer, which lasted 40 years, before retiring in 1990. It was during his early years with CN that he changed his last name to Morris to deal with the anti-Semitic climate of the time. After retirement, he set up his own company as a traffic, transportation, and logistic consultant, and also taught students at Red River College, providing the knowledge and expertise gained during his professional career.
He served as Vice-President of B’nai B’rith, as Chairman of the Winnipeg Council, and sat on the Anti-Defamation League Commission. He was also extensively involved with the Canadian Institute of Traffic and Transportation (CITT) where he took on the role of President.
Fitness being of high importance to him, he was active in playing tennis, bicycling to Headingley and Lockport and back, swimming, walking many miles at a time, and cross-country skiing. He enjoyed travel, and with his partner in later life, Kerry Alderson, made several trips to various parts of Europe, Asia, Israel, Scandinavia, Russia, and California. He was appreciated by those who knew him for being a sensitive, considerate, and articulate person who enjoyed good conversation with everyone.
He died at Winnipeg on 23 November 2005 and was buried in the Bnay Abraham Cemetery at West St. Paul. He had three children. His support of CancerCare Manitoba has been commemorated with a plaque in his name at the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation building.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 3 December 2005.
Walter Kenneth Morris, Endowment Book of Life, Jewish Foundation of Manitoba.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 26 May 2022
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