50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION | 1972-2022 SPECIAL STRATEGIC PLAN EDITION | WINTER 2021
Patricia Morris The late Hon. Donna T. Morris (Graves Class, 1977) was adamant that her daughter, the Hon. Patricia T. Morris (Turner Class, 1991), would enjoy law school just as she had. Thirty-one years later, Patricia is glad she followed her mother’s advice – despite initially resisting the notion.
“As wise as she was, she probably knew I was going to like it and thought if I could just get her in there for a semester, I’ll have her hooked,” Patricia said of her mother. “And she did – well, WMU-Cooley did. She was right – I loved it.” From that moment on, Patricia and Donna’s bond matured beyond their mother-daughter relationship, sharing each other’s thoughts and ideas about law school, federal and state statutes, and the judicial system. While in law school and later on as judge, Patricia would call her mom daily, asking her for advice on how to bring up difficult topics without sounding harsh or critical. “I used her a lot for that kind of advice – not necessarily legal advice – but rather how to address issues,” said Patricia. “I tend to be a little too candid, and she would soften me, which was good, I needed that.”
FAMILY OF LAWYERS
Donna Morris
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The youngest of five siblings, Patricia was the only one to follow their parents’ and relatives’ footsteps in law. In addition to Donna, the Morris side of the family has a long history of lawyers: father, John C. Morris, was a district court judge in Midland; grandfather, Chester Earl Morris, was a lawyer and city attorney in Midland; and aunt, Mary Jane Morris, and uncle, Robert Thomas Morris, were also lawyers.
Patricia and her brother, John, were the last siblings who were still at home when their mother decided to enroll in law school. As a widow, Donna found that WMU-Cooley was the only option at the time that offered a flexible schedule, which allowed her to attend class and raise her children. In the event where Donna couldn’t get a babysitter, she would tote a young Patricia with her to WMU-Cooley’s campus in Lansing where Patricia would sit quietly in class with her mom. “It was a challenging situation of course,” she said, noting some of those same professors she saw in her mom’s classes as a child, also taught her more than a decade later.
LAW SCHOOL LEGACY Patricia, who graduated from the University of Michigan with a classical studies degree, worked as a governess for a family in Manhattan during and after college. However, being a governess wasn’t the long-term career path she envisioned, and her degree was not useful in terms of job opportunities. “I was not a person who said, ‘I want to be a lawyer,’” said Patricia, who considered enrolling in various graduate school programs that would better help her in the job arena. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do.” Still, her mother was persistent in urging her to try law school.
