HAMILTON, Ont. — Long-time industry veteran and mentor to many, Stan Morris, has passed away.

Morris was born in Montreal in July, 1944. At the age of seven his family moved to Toronto. Morris dropped out of school at the age of 16 to help his family make ends meet after his father passed away while Stan was only 11 years old.

While working at a poultry farm, it is said Morris talked his way into a job as a driver even though he was only 17 years of age. He soon realized he wanted to become a truck driver.

In his mid-20s, he went to work for Lafferty Smith Express Lines in Belleville, Ont. and later went on to work for Jet Transport as terminal manager. He continued to pull the odd load himself even as terminal manager.

He also worked as operations manager for TCEI (Transport Champlain Express Inc.), which later became TST Truckload Express. He retired from there eight years ago and was diagnosed with a brain tumour in May 2015.

“Stan touched a lot of people in his 50-plus years in the industry at JET, TCEI and TST Truckload Express and was a mentor to many,” said industry friend Glenn Caldwell of NAL Insurance. A ceremony in Morris’ honour will be held Sept. 23. You can read his obituary and find more details here.