MANUEL MORRIS

Manuel Morris, renowned architect and pillar of the greater Kansas City Jewish community, passed away on Sept. 26, at Brookdale Assisted Living in Overland Park at the age of 101. Up until the end, he retained the intellect, wit and twinkle in his eye that charmed us for a century. He was married for 76 years to Victoria Hakan Morris, his devoted aishes chayil (woman of valor) who passed away less than a year ago at the age of 100.

Manuel was born in Kansas City to parents from the Polish shtetl. He helped support the family while in Westport High School and worked his way through college during the Depression. A World War II veteran, with no financial backing or professional contacts, he succeeded in building an extraordinary architecture firm, designing ware houses, shopping centers, synagogues, Jewish Centers and a host of fine structures across the country. Already in his teens, Manuel was the finely attired, well-spoken, classy gentleman with savoir-faire that he remained until the end.

His strong will, uncompromising individualism and intense loyalties were his trademarks. He was a professional whose handshake was his bond. On the construction site, he treated the simple workman with the same respect as the bosses. For example, there was a seemingly rough-edged, Ozarks good-ole-boy foreman who brought his wife’s famous home-baked pie in his lunch pail and wolfed it down from his hand. Manuel recognized the true inner quality of the man and respectfully offered him a plate and fork to use from that time forward. He initiated a sincere discussion about how one can show respect for one’s wife and attain self-respect even by the way one eats. Manuel sensed the inner dignity and even appreciated the outer rough edges of that good ole John. Thus it was with so many of his fascinating and mutually enriching friendships. The legendary pie encounter marked the beginning of a long-lasting, deep friendship for this “odd couple”.

Manuel was a pioneer in race relations in the 1950s. In his own inimitable style, with not a hoot for political correctness, he was all about placing value on the individual. He sought friendships with ethical individuals of quality, regardless of race or creed. This brought him to strike up an amazing friendship with the late Wesley Elders Sr., a former musician in Count Basie’s Kansas City band who had managed to become quite an impressive construction contractor on his side of town. Manuel heard about his professional and personal greatness and sought him out. Wesley was not employable on white peoples’ projects back then in the fifties. Manuel changed all that. In Wesley’s office in the basement of his home, these two buddies spent hours sharing values, while building a new chapter in race relations. Remember that back in the 1950s, the Elders’ neighborhood was a wholesome, drug-free attractive place where refined church-going families prevailed. Manuel mentored, promoted and brought Elders’ black construction team into the white construction scene with great success. The Morris and Elders families bonded in warm personal friendship, attended one another’s celebrations and enriched one another’s lives immensely.

Manuel Morris was recognized as one of the masters of mid-century modern “Googie” architecture, a rather funky, nostalgic, sweet aesthetic. His King Louie Lanes and Ice Rink, spanning construction stages from 1948-1965, was recently transformed and inaugurated into the Johnson County Museum and Heritage Center. This awesome structure is a rare remaining purist example of “Googie” design in Johnson County. It exhibits many of his innovative structural techniques such as shell canopy, biomorphic accents, folded plate roof and softening of Frank Lloyd Wright influence into warmer shapes and materials.
Manuel’s uncanny charisma and ability to cultivate culturally diverse circles of friends and professionals propelled him ahead of his time in the religious sphere as well. With all his involvements on a broad scale, he maintained a clear-cut, outspoken Jewish identity, eschewing assimilation in all forms. He knew that a Jew stands apart in the deepest, positive sense. He lived this principal of tradition and passed it on to his family. It was he who brought Chabad to Kansas City in the 1960s. He went to Crown Heights and requested from the Rebbe that he send representatives to settle in Kansas City to strengthen traditional, Torah Yiddishkeit. He helped develop local Chabad Houses and contributed to other local Torah true enterprises as well.

Manuel’s love for Zion and intense Jewish pride propelled him to become one of the early supporters of the Jewish Defense League. He kept a photo of Meir Kahane along with a declaration of JDL principles near his desk all the years and next to his bed at Brookdale. He brought Meir Kahane to Kansas City in the sixties to speak. That impassioned, factually overwhelming delivery provoked quite a ruckus among the shocked audience, much to Manuel’s delight.

On a more conventional note, he led the way in Jewish Federation, the Jewish Community Center, Israel Bonds and the panoply of religious causes. He did extensive research in order to provide plans for construction of mikvaos across the country. He was enlisted in this holy mission in the sixties by the Helmetzer “mikvah” Rebbe. Among his local religious structures were the former JCC, former Beth Shalom, Kehiloth Israel sanctuary on Meyer Blvd and Ohev Shalom synagogue.

Manuel and Victoria’s prime achievement was passing on the legacy from Sinai. They were blessed to see all their descendants settled in the Holy Land and observant of Torah and mitzvos. Manuel Morris will be ever cherished by his daughters, Barbara Morris Glaberson and Deborah Morris Freeman together with the spouses, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren:
Zev, Eliyohu, Leah, Yakov, Sruli, Chana, Rena, Hillel, Yedidya, Sarah, Binyomin, Tali, Shai, Brocho, Shmuel, Yehuda, Hadas, Racheli, Tzviki, Tamar, Natanel, Shmuly, Gitty, Nechama, Nachman, Nachman, Aryeh, Hoshaya, Avraham Sholom, Yonoson, Avigayil, Iska, Nechemia, Michali, Avishai, David, Eitan, Rochel, Yerachmiel, Moishe Chaim, Hadassa Leah, Menachem, Yisroel Meir, Yakov Yisroel, Elisheva, Tami, Elisha, Elimelech, Yonatan, Yossi, Chaya, Moishy, Yisroel, Yehoshua.