From staff reports

DURANT - A former Bryan County commissioner and member of the Durant Board of Education has died.

Tony Morrison, 76, died Wednesday at his home from health problems.

Morrison served on the Durant Board of Education from 1973 to 1986, and was District No. 1 County Commissioner from 1988 to 1998.

Morrison attended school in Durant and was an alumnus of Robert E. Lee Elementary School. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps before being employed by Pan American Oil Co. He returned to Durant in 1960.

He worked several jobs in Durant and owned his own business, Morrison Vending Company, for several years. Active in many organizations, he was scoutmaster and counselor for the Boy Scouts and a member of First Presbyterian Church in Durant.

County Clerk Pat Brady, who worked with Morrison five years when she was a first-deputy for the county's clerk's office, recalled Morrison's sense of humor.

“He was fun to work with Brady said. “He had a little thing where he would come in and say ‘Good morning ladies. Y'all are ladies aren't you?'

“He was always real nice. He was a good guy.”

Durant Board of Education Member Dr. Wayne Wylie and lifelong friend said that Morrison kept up with jail maintenance while commissioner.

“He's done a pretty good job all of his life,” Wylie said. “He was a good, hard worker.”