Robert K. Morse

Robert Kirtland Morse, age 55, beloved husband, father, son, and brother, passed away October 2nd, 2014, in Beverly Hills, CA after a 4-year struggle with a rare disease, amyloidosis.

He was born in Bath, Maine, July 2, 1959 and graduated from First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach, VA in 1977. Robert continued his education at the Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech) where he graduated in 1982 with a bachelor's in mechanical engineering. He began his career as an aircraft structural designer and has since held positions at the Naval Air Rework Facility, NAS Norfolk, BDM Corporation in Albuquerque, Northrop in Los Angeles, McDonnell Douglas in St Louis, and Boeing in Seattle. In these roles, he led teams in the design of aircraft primary and secondary structure as well as systems installations. He has worked on the F-14, B-2, A-12, B737, B757, and B777 aircraft programs. In 1995, he joined Allied Signal, which later acquired and became Honeywell. Robert worked at multiple Honeywell locations across the country, as product manager of Space Valves at Tempe, Arizona; as site leader for Honeywell at the Bristol Connecticut plant, and various director roles at the Torrance, California plant. The last position he held was director of Environmental Control Systems (ECS) Engineering of Honeywell Aerospace, which included travel to China, India, England, France, Spain, Germany, Canada and Mexico. While in this position, Robert led ECS product development programs for the International Space Station, the Dassault Falcon 7X, F-35 Lightning II, and the Airbus A350. Other Honeywell programs Morse supported include, V-22 Osprey, F-22 Raptor, Gulfstream V, Lear 46, Hawker Horizon, M1A1 NBC System and many Boeing aircraft 717/737/747/757/767/787.

Robert's interests included science-fiction books and movies, airplanes, carpentry, working on cars, gardening, and cooking. He enjoyed building things and then sitting and looking at the finished product. He used this enthusiasm to renovate homes in Seattle and Huntington Beach. He was very athletic and most enjoyed bike riding long distances, running, snow-skiing, and water-skiing. During his years in New Mexico he was an avid balloon crew member. His grieving family include his wife of 24 years, Arlene Saiz; son, Henry Morse; daughter, Lauren Morse; daughter, Emilie Morse of Huntington Beach, CA; mother and stepfather: Jean and Ken Lamine; sisters: Ann Morse, Jennifer Neal of Virginia Beach, VA, and Patricia O'Neill of Phoenix, AZ; and grandmother, Frances Dustin Morse of East Hartland, CT; along with many nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles and cousins. Robert was preceded in death by his father, Lieutenant Robert K. Morse USN; sisters: Deborah "Debbie" Jean Speakman and Kendra Eileen O'Neill; and grandparents, Henry and Mary Courchesne of Trenton, MI and Granby, MA.

Robert's Life Celebration will begin with a Visitation on Wednesday, October 8, 2014 at 5:00 p.m. at Salazar Mortuary located at 400 Third St. SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102. A Life Celebration Service will be held on Thursday, October 9, 2014 at 9:00 a.m. also at Salazar Mortuary, followed by Burial at Mount Calvary Cemetery.

Pallbearers will be Alex Mata, Andres Mata, Mike Smith, Scott Howard, Jeff Saiz, and Scott Saiz. Honorary pallbearers will be Charlie Campbell of Virginia Beach, VA; David Campbell of Virginia Beach, VA; Perry Neal of Virginia Beach, VA and Bob Speakman of New Market, MD.