Five-time Fremont mayor Gus Morrison dies at 88

He was known for waging political battles for controlled development and environmental preservation.

FREMONT – Angus Hugh Morrison, a five-time mayor of Fremont whose tenure overlapped with the city’s rapid growth and ethnic diversification, has died. He was 88.

Morrison, who went by the first name Gus, died at home with loved ones close by on Dec. 14, his family said in a statement.

First elected to the City Council in 1978, Morrison served more than 25 years in the public spotlight, where he waged political battles for controlled development, environmental preservation and commission appointments, according to a profile published by this news organization on the eve of his retirement from public office in 2004.

He earned a reputation as the “slow-growth guy” and aimed to carry out the vision set forth by the city’s forefathers – keeping residential neighborhoods apart from heavy industry, colleagues said in the profile.

Morrison loathed big-box stores and campaigned against the construction of a 1,400-unit residential community, school and a golf course in an industrial area where the Pacific Commons Shopping Center currently sits, according to the profile.

But he backed the construction of city projects, including the Main Library and the Tri-City Animal Shelter, as well as high-density developments to help low-income residents.

“He represented the culmination of early (advocacy for) safe and strong neighborhoods,” then-Councilmember Bob Wasserman said in the profile. “His appeal was that he was the safeguard of the principles that the people who formed the city embraced.”

Morrison, a Democrat, was liberal on social and environmental issues, according to the profile. He was one of the first men to join the League of Women Voters and belonged to the National Organization for Women and the Tri-City Ecology Center.

He also led an effort to pass Measure A, an initiative to limit development of the city’s hillsides, and helped successfully lobby Congress to expand to 30,000 acres the preserve that would become the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

“Mr. Morrison’s public service legacy will be remembered for years to come,” the city said in a statement Tuesday.

Fremont was a mostly White bedroom community of 125,000 residents when Morrison won his first election. In the quarter-century that followed, the city more than doubled in size and became one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the country.

In the profile, Morrison said the city had changed without losing its core character.

“The only difference is that the ethnicity of the people has changed,” he said. “But the people who come here are just like the rest of us – they are here to build a better life for their kids.”

Morrison grew up in Tonawanda, N.Y., according to the family statement. He was first of four children born to John Morrison, a seaman on the Great Lakes ore boats, and Mary (Norton) Morrison, a housekeeper. Both were immigrants from Scotland.

At the age of 17, Morrison joined the Navy and served as an electronic technician during the Korean War, his family said in the statement.

“Everything I am today can be traced directly back to that day in 1953 when I joined the U.S. Navy at 17 years of age,” Morrison said. “Whenever someone says, ‘thank you for your service,’ I respond with, ‘thank you for letting me serve.’ ”

His service in the Navy ultimately brought him to San Francisco, where he met his wife, Joy. They had three children and were married for 53 years until Joy died in September 2012.

Morrison also worked at Lockheed for 36 years, starting in 1958 as an instrument technician and working his way up to manager of the Failure Analysis and Corrective Engineering Department, his family said in the statement. During that time, Morrison earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from San Jose State University.

Following his departure from the council, Morrison helped new councils learn to work together and sometimes served as a political consultant, according to the statement.

“He never stopped expressing his desire to make a difference in his community,” the family said.

Morrison is survived by his children, Frank Morrison, Gloria Ritchie and Heather Meyer; his grandchildren, Meghan Ritchie, Garrett Ritchie and Ainsely Meyer; and his great-grandson, Stanley Ritchie. A service to honor him was held Tuesday.

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