Gordon Calvin Morison
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passed away peacefully on May 5, 2021. He retired as Assistant Postmaster General in 1992 after 21 years of service. He joined the United States Postal Service to head the Philatelic Affairs Division just prior to postal reorganization in 1971. Later, he was placed in charge of all customer retail and commercial sales and services in addition to stamps.
He was one of the few people to convert a hobby into a life time career. A stamp collector at age 16, he was long active in philatelic associations serving twice as president of both the Rochester, N.Y., Philatelic Association and the United Postal Stationery Society. He was chairman of the 1968 American Philatelic Society convention in Rochester which conducted the first World Series of Philately competition that became an annual competition and has continued for more than 50 years.
Born in Sayre, Pennsylvania, he was a graduate of Syracuse University and received his master's degree in economics from Duke University. He married Mary Harriet Vivian of Kingston, PA, and they had two children, Keith Alan and Linda Diane. He was employed by the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle and Stromberg-Carlson, a subsidiary of General Dynamics. They later lived in Yorktown Heights, NY, and he worked in the communications department of General Dynamics headquarters in New York City. Gordon joined the Postal Service in 1971 and moved to Potomac, MD.
His wife pre-deceased him in 2002. In 2010 he married Mary Jane Noll of Potomac, MD, and they moved to Leisure World in Silver Spring, MD.
At the postal service he was responsible for the selection, issuance and distribution of all new postage stamps. He developed themes for new issues such as Rural America, Black Heritage, Transportation and Music Greats. His innovative programs promoted new stamps and encouraged the philatelic hobby by highlighting the fun of collecting. Stamp collecting became the first paid advertising undertaken by the Postal Service and featured celebrities who collected stamps.
Mr. Morison suggested to NASA that astronauts actually postmark an envelope on the moon, thus establishing the first moon post office, during their 1974 rover expedition. He later proposed joint stamp issues with the Soviet Union for Apollo-Soyuz and negotiated their issuances.
He launched Benjamin Franklin Stamp Clubs in schools throughout the country and provided materials so that local post offices could support them. He also authorized postal financial support for all international stamp shows in the U.S. from 1976 to 1992.
He brought acceptance of credit cards to the Postal Service, first for philatelic mail orders in the mid-1970s; later, he proposed they be accepted by all local post offices, a service which was implemented after he retired in 1992.
Mr. Morison worked with private industry to broaden the availability of postage stamps. He authorized face value stamp sales by groceries over the counter and by banks through ATMs. He also developed self-sticking stamps, but mandated they have a water soluble layer to protect their archival quality and not adversely impact stamp collectors (a policy since eliminated). Almost all U.S. postage stamps today are self-adhesive.
In 1990, he negotiated with the Smithsonian to move the National Philatelic Collection to the DC post office building and to establish a separate National Postal Museum. He presented the plan to the USPS Board of Governors requesting approval of $15,365,000 to underwrite most of the initial cost of this project. The new museum opened in 1993.
After retirement he consulted on stamps worldwide and was named Executive Director of the Washington 2006 international stamp exhibition, a week-long event attended by 100,000 collectors from throughout the world. His personal exhibit of Iceland postal cards won the Grand Prix Nationale at Nordia2001 in Reykjavik.
He received many philatelic awards including the American Philatelic Society's Luff Award (1994), the Smithsonian's Distinguished Philatelist Award (2007) and the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society's Liechtenstein Award (2008).
He is survived by his wife, Mary Jane and his two children, Keith (Patty) Morison of Frederick, MD, and Linda Morison of Columbia, MD; three grandchildren, Megan (Chad) Steiner of Middletown, MD, Kathleen Morison of Frederick, MD, and Anna (Joe) Marchand of Watertown, NY, and two great-grandchildren, Quinn and Kenzie Steiner of Middletown, MD. He is also survived by his family with Mary Jane, Christie (Morris) Berman and Jennie (Josh) Lyons and Maren, Elena and Will Berman and Marissa and Lauralynn Lyons.
Funeral services will be held on Thursday, May 13th at 11:00am at the Potomac United Methodist Church, 9908 S Glen Road, Potomac, MD 20854 with burial at the adjacent cemetery. The service will also be streamed online at www.potomacumc.org at 11:00 am.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Potomac United Methodist Church (address above) or the American Philatelic Society, 100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte, PA 16823. Full obituary and online guestbook at www.pumphreyfuneralhome.com