Eugene C. Morrison ’39
GENE DIED Sept. 1, 1992, in Luxembourg. The last time we saw him was at a class luncheon at the Princeton Club of N.Y.C. in 1968. We never again heard from him directly as he traveled about the world.
Gene came to Princeton as one of our large contingent from Lawrenceville. He was a member of the freshman crosscountry team. An illness prevented him from completing the second term of freshman year, and he never returned to Princeton. As he said in our 25th yearbook, his travels began with a journey to South America, concentrating on Peru, Chile, and Brazil. Next, he took the Grand Tour, lingering in Biarritz and Madrid. He tried his hand as mining engineer, salesman, and airline pilot. He had been a WWII bomber pilot on sub patrol duty with the navy, and had received the air medal for participating in the sinking of a German submarine off Ascencion Island.
He met his wife, Sybil de Bettincourt, of Rio de Janeiro, while he was hospitalized there during the war. Married in 1945, they had three children, Paula, Ian, and Sybil. We offer his family our sincere sympathy.
The Class of 1939
Paw in print
November 2025
NASA’s new IMAP mission, London’s big data detective, AI challenges in the classroom.
1 Response
Comments
Hans Gruner
1 Year AgoRemembering a Friend
I met Gene in the late ’80s in Luxembourg. I saw him regularly for about two years. He told me his life story, and I knew he was one of those special people you only meet once in your life. He was a true gentleman, a bit of an adventurer, a bit mischievous, a lover of good music, and a real gem.
In the early ’90s I moved to New Zealand and I said good-bye to a friend.