MORRIS RAYMOND WORRELL
Morris was born October 4, 1921 to Emory and Marie (Reinhold) Worrell. He was raised in the Wisner area and received his education from the Wisner schools. He played football and basketball for Wisner High. The June 1943 Stanton Register noted Morris “will be remembered as one of the best backfield football players Wisner ever had. He would hit hard and always played a clean game and had the admiration of all his opponents. He was also recognized as a superior basketball man.”
Wanting to follow in the military footsteps of his older brothers, Harold (Army) and Orville (Air Force), and after Nebraska turned him down, enlistment records show he enlisted in the Army on February 4, 1941 at Fort McArthur, San Pedro, California. Morris served in Company F, 2nd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment. He was sent to the Philippine Islands where he was stationed when war was declared December 8, 1941. When US troops surrendered on April 9, 1942, Morris became a Japanese Prisoner of War. After enduring the brutal Bataan Death March, he joined other POW’s at Cabanatuan POW Camp in Nueva Ecija Province.
Poor living conditions and lack of food and supplies allowed diseases to run unchecked with little medical treatment available; Morris died on September 27, 1942 from dysentery and malaria. When Cabanatuan Camp was liberated, the mass graves were disinterred and eventually moved to the Manila Mausoleum. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified his remains on August 13, 2018.
He is survived by nieces and nephews Theresa (Alfredo) Ramirez, Norfolk NE, Margaret (Seth) LaBore, San Antonio TX, Lois Miller, Provo UT, Sandra Henrickson, Lakeville, MN, Gerald (Kathy) Marksmeier, Tomball, TX, Thomas Marksmeier, Wisner NE, Robert (Cyndy) Marksmeier, West Point, NE, James Marksmeier, Wisner, NE, Dallas (Lynette)Worrell, Schuyler NE, Kenneth (Carolyn) Worrell, Omaha NE, Richard (Marla) Freiberg, Bancroft NE, Wayne (Antonia) Worrell, Rawlins WY, Cliff (Barbara) Worrell, Wellington CO, and Rodney (Kathy) Worrell, Ainsworth NE. He is also survived by many great, great-great, and great-great-great nieces and nephews.
Morris’s brothers and sisters, all deceased, are Vera Worrell Tiedtke, Hazel Worrell, Leland Worrell, Margaret Worrell Thompson, Eva Worrell Freiberg, Harold Worrell, Orville Worrell, Betty Worrell Marksmeier, and Emory Worrell Jr. Deceased nieces and nephews are Art Tiedtke Jr, Jo Dee Haines, Anna Marie Thorp , Bev Chiodo, Phillippe Tiedtke (died in 6 Day Israeli War aboard USS Liberty), Gary Worrell, Marion Cline, Jacqueline Koll, Sherlynn Todd and Doug Tiedtke.
Memorial services for Morris Worrell will be held on Saturday, November 10, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. at the United Methodist Church of Christ in Wisner, NE with Pastor Coral Parmenter officiating. Interment will be in the Wisner Cemetery with Military Honors by the Nebraska National Guard and Wisner American Legion Post #185 and V.F.W. Post #5767. Minnick Funeral Home in Wisner, NE is handling the arrangements for this fallen soldier.