We are sad to share that long time Beaufortonian Ralph Milledge Morris, IV known by family, friends, and locals as ‘Milledge’ passed away on February 28, 2024, at his home with loved ones at his side.
Milledge was born in Columbia, SC on June 19, 1945, to his late parents Martha Hopkins Morris and Ralph Milledge Morris, III (Humble Buck). He is survived by the love of his life and beautiful wife of 45 years, Janet S. Mark, his daughter, JoAnn Davis (Chip Coughlin), his siblings David Morris (Rebecca Bradshaw), Martha Lynn Webb (Charles) and Robert Morris (Abby). Milledge will also be remembered with love by his in-laws, cousins, nieces, nephews, great nieces, and great nephews with whom he shared much time and love.
As a young man Milledge grew up on Lady’s Island surrounded by the beauty of the low country. He loved everything about our coastal area and water ways. He had sea legs that could handle the toughest and roughest seas yet as an experienced boater he was able to make everyone on board feel as though the waters were calm. He was a talented athlete, masterful water skier, Captain of the Beaufort High School football team, a scholar, an entrepreneur, a creator and builder and he enjoyed all these with a spirit to be reckoned with! Milledge was a progressive thinker and though often a man of few words, there were many topics he would discuss for hours.
After graduating from Beaufort High School, he attended the Citadel and later graduated from the University of South Carolina. Milledge joined the Navy and upon returning to the low country he attended and graduated from Clemson. Before, during, in between and following, he spent his free time on the water working as a fisherman, a deckhand and exploring the waters and coastal areas of the southeast and Bahamas.
Eventually, his explorations brought him to waters much further from home where he worked as an Alaska King Crab Fisherman on the Marcy J out of Kodiak, AK, where he fished the Bristol Bay area for several years. Later, he returned to Alaska to fish the Kenai Peninsula as a seasonal Salmon Gillnetter on his boat the Jade X, where numerous family and friends worked alongside Milledge while enjoying an amazing Alaskan summer. To balance the seasons, he spent fall and winter with his family running the Family Tree Christmas Tree Farm on Lady’s Island.
Milledge introduced family members, friends, and newcomers to what he loved-the outdoors, Mother Nature, adventure, and all that the eye can behold from the deck of a boat. Milledge believed that even if you were in the hull and knee deep in fish (or ice) it was better than a day on land. He generously shared his life lessons, boating prowess and knowledge to anyone who expressed an interest. Milledge spent much of his time maintaining and enjoying Pritchards Island where generations of his family have tended to the camp. There are many stories and tales of his ability to govern the waters and change things for the better that locals will recall. Just imagine a Water Festival weekend with ten or more boats tied to his 53-foot trawler with Milledge at the helm delicately weaving his way without a hitch to get closer to the band on the sand bar, all so his family and friends could enjoy what he grew up enjoying.
Despite attending The Citadel and receiving degrees from USC and Clemson, Milledge was as humble as his father’s nickname. He encouraged and generously aided his family in achieving an education to suit their personal goals. A desk job never fit him, but being on the water and surrounded by nature did. You could see this in his infectious smile which drew others to him.
He recruited countless of these same folks who shared his work ethic and opposition to office life to join him on his adventures at Pritchards and even in preparing the perfect Christmas Tree. He taught many that arduous work, being outdoors and creating something that made others smile was more important than a paycheck. Milledge had a huge heart, rarely showed negativity and an incredibly generous spirit. For those he mentored (or some may say tortured) all received lasting life lessons such as how to live frugally, the importance of recycling and repurposing, how to tie a knot, mend a net, enjoy healthy eating that included his favorites-beans and greens, understanding the benefit of exercise and a relentless desire to be outdoors.
Milledge’s family plans a private memorial soon.
Donations in honor of Milledge may be made to any of the following:
Checks made payable to Loggerhead South will be included in Pritchards’ annual USC endowment donation (1 Cotton Court, Beaufort, SC, 29907), Open Land Trust (https://openlandtrust.org/types-giving/), the Humane Society of Beaufort County (http://www.humanesocietyofbeaufortcounty.com) or a charity of your choice.
