Robert Hale (Bob) Morrison, of Naples, Fla., and Oak Bluffs, and formerly of Beverly Farms, died on August 2 surrounded by his family. He was 86.
Born in Waltham on April 10, 1940, Bob was raised in Belmont, one of seven children of the late John Christopher and Margaret Matheson Morrison, alongside his adoring Nana, Asenath Matheson.
He attended Northeastern University through its cooperative education program, earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1963. He then served as an officer in the United States Army Signal Corps, spending three years in Germany and attaining the rank of captain before leaving active duty in 1967.
After working briefly for Security Bank and Trust and Cantella & Co., he joined Fidelity Management & Research Company as an equity trader in 1968. Selected to lead its equity trading operation in 1985, he ultimately became vice president and head of global equity trading. During nearly 30 years at Fidelity, he guided the trading desk through tremendous growth and the technological transformation of equity trading. By his retirement in 1998, Fidelity’s equity trading desk was the world’s largest by assets traded.
Bob carried authority without demanding attention. Deliberate and measured, he listened closely and spoke with purpose; when he did, people listened. His even temperament, sharp intelligence, wry, understated humor and steady presence made him a trusted leader. He treated everyone with equal dignity and instilled in his children the values of hard work, humility, loyalty and integrity. His family called him the man who “spoke the least and said the most.”
He met Susan “Sue” Gura of Wellesley Hills the traditional way — at a bar in Kenmore Square. They married in 1970 and began married life on Pinckney street in Boston before moving to Topsfield to start a family. Their old Colonial farmhouse had doorways so low that six-foot-three Bob had to duck between rooms. In 1980, they moved with their two children to a beautiful Victorian in Beverly Farms that required plenty of elbow grease but, mercifully, had high ceilings. Bob and Sue celebrated their 56th anniversary in July.
In retirement, Bob and Sue traveled abroad with friends and settled into a rhythm they loved: winters in Naples and long summers at their cherished Oak Bluffs home. On the Vineyard, Bob played golf, read or competed fiercely at backgammon on the porch, and savored fine food, wine and conversation. He was known for carefully blended morning coffee, famous rum punches, generous tips and frosted lemonade “cocktails” with grenadine made for his grandchildren.
Bob never forgot growing up in a hardworking family of modest means. Those experiences made him prudent and self-reliant, but also deeply generous. He remained steadfastly loyal to his family, especially Sue, staying patiently and devotedly by her side as her needs increased.
Above all, he was a man of principle and substance: honorable, generous, humble and kind. His accomplishments never made him self-important. His greatest influence came not from the positions he held, but from the example he set.
Bob is survived by his wife, Susan Morrison; his son Todd Morrison, Todd’s wife, Stephanie Nelson, and their children, Henry and Grace, of Boston; and his daughter Sage Pagano, Sage’s husband, Dan Pagano, and their children, Miles and Julia, of Hingham.
He is also survived by his sisters, Peggy Bukoski of Stoneham and Mary Jane Mahoney of East Providence, R.I. His siblings John Morrison Jr., Donald Morrison, Murdock Morrison and Asenath Bellino predeceased him.
On August 19, in accordance with his final wishes, Bob was laid to rest in Oak Bluffs, surrounded by his closest family. The simple, peaceful gathering was exactly as he wanted it, with little fanfare and a few carefully chosen words that said all that needed to be said. It was fitting that his final resting place would be on Martha’s Vineyard, where everything was “good good!”