Donald A. Morrison, 84, died January 16, 2021, at home in Highland Village, Texas. He was born in Mount Forrest, Ontario, to Allen Irwin Morrison and Margaret Mary Lennox on July 19, 1936. The family immigrated to Gasport, New York, where he attended Royalton-Hartland High School. After high school, he served in the Army from 1955 to 1958 with the 10th Mountain Division. He earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Buffalo, a master’s degree from the University of Alaska, and a PhD in Geology from the University of Idaho. His area of expertise was mineralogy and petrology.

Donald began working at NASA Johnson Space Center in 1967 at the time of the Apollo program. He was involved with astronaut training and analysis of lunar samples. While working for the Lunar Receiving Laboratory, Donald met his wife of 52 years, Ruth Ann Clark. He served as an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Clear Lake from 1990 to 1992. He continued researching planetology and terrestrial geology and worked on the “return to the moon initiative” until he retired in 1999. After moving to Highland Village to be closer to his grandchildren, Donald joined the Elm Fork Chapter of Master Naturalists.

— Text courtesy of Mulkey-Mason Funeral Home