MOODUS, Conn. – After a long illness, battled without complaint, George Peter Morrill passed away in Colchester, Conn. on Jan. 13, 2022. He was 74 years old.
Born in Hartford, Conn. on April 9, 1947, he was the firstborn child of George Percival Morrill and Phyllis Christensen Morrill. Shortly after his birth, the budding family moved to Westminster, Vt. The first school Peter attended was the Saxtons River Elementary School, and he remembered this period as a time of singular joy and happiness. When he was eight years old, the family, complete now with three more children, returned to Connecticut and settled in the village of Higganum, in the town of Haddam.
Throughout his developmental years, Peter was an effortlessly good student. He loved the outdoors and sports, and he was an asset at Middletown High School, where he excelled in both basketball and baseball. Following high school graduation, seeking adventure, Peter moved to Chicago, Ill., where he took work along the docks of Lake Michigan. While living in Chicago, Peter was drafted into the U.S. Army, to serve the country in the Signal Corps during the Vietnam conflict. He was stationed in Long Binh when the ammunition dump was blown up during the North Vietnamese Tet Offensive in 1968.
After an honorable discharge from the Army and needing to decompress from the war, Peter decided on a new adventure by riding a ten-speed bicycle across the country to Eugene, Ore. While in Oregon, Peter became a devout Catholic. His life was characterized by work, study, and contemplation. He returned to the east coast in his early thirties, first to Higganum, and later to New York City.
Throughout his adult working life, Peter wore many hats, including that of a truck driver, milkman, radio newsman, and disc jockey, but when he moved to Bridgeport, Conn., he settled into construction work until he retired. In 2006 he returned to Higganum to live with and care for his aging father. Peter stayed with his father until he passed in 2015.
From Higganum, Peter moved to Moodus, Conn., where he enjoyed a life of quiet solitude during his last years. He remained deeply religious, and was committed to tithing a portion of his income every month to charities for the poor and civil rights organizations. He did this until the end of his life.
Peter is survived by three brothers: Michael and wife Laura Wenneker and their two children, Molly and William, of Pittsburgh, Pa.; Timothy and his wife Peggy Jordan Morrill and their two children, Matthew and Catherine, of Higganum, Conn. and Putney, Vt. respectively; and Christopher Morrill of Saxtons River, Vt.
There will be a funeral Mass held at the Saint Bridget Catholic Church on 75 Moodus Leesville Road in Moodus, Conn. on Friday, Sept. 30, at 9:30 a.m. Ceremonies will conclude with an interment Mass at Cypress Cemetery, 321 Essex Rd., Westbrook, Conn. There will be no social hour.