Glenbard East coach lived for sports, teaching
Paul Morris knew from the time he was a child growing up in Quincy that he wanted to teach and coach sports.
So during his 32 years as a driving instructor, physical education teacher, baseball head coach and football assistant coach at Glenbard East High School in Lombard, there was only one part he truly disliked.
"Paul always said the hardest thing he ever had to do in his life was when he had to cut boys at the beginning of a sports season," said his wife, Sherry. "He basically wanted to keep them all."
The 85-year-old died Monday at home with his family, which includes his wife of 60 years, seven children, 16 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Funeral services were held earlier this week and drew not only Morris' large extended family, but many former students.
The quiet teacher respected each of his students and his athletes, his wife said, and was known for being extremely fair. In 1977, his coaching helped take the Glenbard East baseball team to the state championships, where it placed second.
"He was a great guy to play for," said 1971 Glenbard East baseball player Tim Hogan, a Lombard resident. "He had a love of the game and a dry wit that made everybody really enjoy being around him and baseball. It's a shame to see that generation going away that had so many characters like Paul."
Hogan's teammate that same year, Dennis Pulchinski, wrote a letter this week the Morris family cherishes. It said his coach was his sounding board, friend and confidant.
"He changed my life and I will be forever grateful to him and only wish I had the opportunity to tell him how much he meant to me during my high school days," Pulchinski wrote.
Before moving to Lombard in 1961, Morris taught at Coleman High School in Wisconsin, Virginia High School, in Virginia, Ill., and St. Bede Academy in LaSalle.
He was a veteran of the Army and served in the 3rd Army with Gen. George Patton in France, Germany and Belgium during World War II. Before that Morris was recruited by his favorite baseball team, the St. Louis Cardinals, at age 15, said Sherry Morris, but his mother forbid him to join and urged him to further his education.
"Sports was truly his life," Sherry said.
Once he took his post at Glenbard, he inspired several of his own children and grandchildren to become teachers, including his daughter, Marty Schillerstrom. Morris was selected for the school's Academic Heritage Hall of Fame.
When not in the classroom or on the field, Morris amassed a huge collection of sports memorabilia. He was an active member at Sacred Heart Church and was a First Degree member of Knights of Columbus, Father Boecker Council 6090.
Sherry Morris said her husband revealed his proudest achievements to his daughter, Marty, during a recent talk. He said he was proud of being a teacher and coach, raising a family and being a good husband.
"He said it in that order, which sort of made us chuckle," said Sherry. "But he really did accomplish everything he wanted to in his life."
Memorials can be sent to the Glenbard East PEP Scholarship Foundation, 596 Crescent Blvd., Glen Ellyn, IL 60137 or Mass Intentions at Sacred Heart Church in Lombard. For details, call (630) 629-0094.