Morris Field was born December 4, 1921 in Lewistown, Montana to Harry Field and Myrtle S. Johnson. Morris spent most of his life in Hominy, Oklahoma and served his country with enlistments in the National Guard, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Coast Guard. He was a lifetime member of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), and The American Legion for 59 years, serving as the Post Historian. After his military service in World War II, Morris attended two trade schools in Dallas, Texas and Nashville, Tennessee, where he became an accomplished Linotype Operator.
He subsequently worked for weekly and daily newspapers including the Tulsa World/Tribune, Dallas Times Herald, Pawhuska Journal-Capital, and The Hominy News. He owned and served as Editor and Publisher of the Cedar Vale Kansas Messenger. He concluded his career as a Linotype Operator for the Oil and Gas Journal in Tulsa, OK.
Morris is well known for his accomplishments in the martial arts area. At the age of 46 he started learning karate in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Nineteen years later (1984) he formed the Dragon’s Den School of Martial Arts in Hominy. The club won over 800 trophies in competition. and Morris taught over 5,000 students. He never charged any of them for his services. In addition to teaching skill sets in Martial Arts, he focused his students on learning self-discipline, fitness, and a drug-free lifestyle. On the way to attaining karate’s highest rank (Montei), he won 12 first place trophies in competition after he was 65 years old. His final rank was 5th Degree Black Belt in the style of Shorin-ryu. His accomplishments earned him a nomination by Blue Cross/Blue Shield’s for their 3rd Annual “Ageless Hero Award”, as well as a segment on Tulsa News Channel 8.
He wrote hundreds of stories for the Hominy News ,including a regular column on the activities of the Dragon’s Den, American Legion, Letters to the Editor, general interest stories, and numerous stories under the pen name of “The Penn Creek Prospector”. Capitalizing on his knowledge of letterpress and hot metal printing technology, Morris also accumulated the equipment to create this museum: the Field Historical Printing Museum in Hominy.
Morris passed away on Wednesday, September 28, 2011 at the age of 89.
Are you one of his 5,000 Shorin-ryu students ? Stop by and tell us your story about Morris !
