Bess Clifton Sheppard Morrison

MORRISON, BESS CLIFTON SHEPPARD (1917~2003) Bess Clifton Sheppard Morrison, wife of William Arthur Morrison, Presiding Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, was the only child of John Levi Sheppard, the brother of Texas Senator Morris Sheppard, and Bess Clifton of Pilot Point, Texas. She was born on September 3, 1917, in Mt. Vernon, New York. Soon after her birth, she was moved to Dallas to the home of her grandmother, Mrs. A. W. Walker.

Bess attended the University of Texas and later graduated from the University of Maryland. During World War II, she served in the Army of the United States. She enlisted as a private in 1943, and left as a captain in 1946.

Widow of William B. Clayton, who was vice president of the General Electric Co. in Dallas, she later married Judge William Arthur Morrison, Presiding Judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, and had lived in Austin since 1980. Judge Morrison preceded her in death.

Bess was a member of the Dallas Woman's Club; the Austin Woman's Club; the Austin Federation of Women's Clubs; the Austin Lawyers Wives Club; the State Official Ladies Club; the Society of Women Geographers; the Andrew Carruthers Chapter of the D.A.R. (past Regent); Daughters of the Republic of Texas (James Butler Bonham Chapter, (past president and past historian general); member of President Kennedy's Committee of 100 on Juvenile Delinquency and Youth Crime; the American Correctional Association of Citizen Participation (past chairman) and attended the United Nations meeting for the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders in Osaka, Japan; member of the Texas Police Association, and of the Society of Women Police and Texas Sheriff's Association; member of the Austin Women's Symphony League; the Chautauqua, N.Y. Opera Association, and the Chautauqua Woman's Club; the Military Order of the World Wars (past Dept. of Texas Commander and past Commander of the Austin Chapter). She was also an active member of the University United Methodist Church and its Fellowship Forum Class. Decorations and Citations have included the American Defense Service Medal and the Victory Medal.

Bess died on Monday, April 28, 2003, in Austin, Texas and was buried next to her husband, W. A. Morrison, on May 7, 2003.

Information taken from obituary, Austin American-Statesman, Tuesday, April 29, 2003.