Philip Stabler Morse
Philip Stabler Morse
Philip Stabler Morse, 82, died on March 31, 2025, surrounded by his loving family. He resided in Fearrington Village, North Carolina. He will be remembered for his determination, fun-loving personality, enthusiastic curiosity, and supportive spirit. He also loved music and nature, and valued social justice throughout his life.
Philip was born in 1943 in New York City to the late Margaret Brooks Morse and Philip Weber Morse. He spent his boyhood in rural Schenectady, New York and then moved to Indianapolis, Indiana and Cleveland Heights, Ohio. At age 16, he enrolled in George School, a private Quaker school in Bucks County near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1961 he enrolled at the University of Rochester and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English in 1965.
After attending Cornell law school, he subsequently received a master’s degree in English Education from the State University of New York at Buffalo. For three years he taught high school English at Greece Olympia High School in Rochester, New York and then returned to the University of Rochester where he received a doctorate degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the Warner School of Education and Human Development.
In 1972 he joined the School of Education at the State University of New York at Fredonia and subsequently taught there for 30 years, being granted a full professorship in 1994. During his sojourn as a faculty member, he was appointed a visiting scholar at the University of California at Berkeley from 1986-1987 and a visiting scholar at Harvard University from 1993-1994.
In 1981 he published a book entitled Home-Style Learning: Activities for Young Children and their Parents (Prentice-Hall) and in 1995 Young Children at Home and in School: 212 Educational Activities for Their Parents, Teachers, and Caregivers (Allyn and Bacon). In 1996 he co-authored a book entitled Communication and Conflict Resolution in the Schools (Corwin Press).
Upon retirement in 2002, he moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina where he lived for the rest of his life. While there, he founded the Triangle Consortium for Suicide Prevention and was also a member of the Rhine Research Center. For a number of years, he belonged to a classical piano group and also performed at various soirees with a piano partner.
While living in North Carolina, he published two books entitled Does a Pigeon Bark: 212 Fun, Educational Activities for Young Children, and a children’s story, Gloria Mae, The Heroine of Dunkirk Harbor. The latter was based on a real-life rescue on Lake Erie. He was also an award-winning poet, having received an honorable mention in the North Carolina Poetry Council Contest in 2007 for his poem, “My Son Wishing Me Goodbye.”
He is survived by his wife, Judith Morse, his daughter, Julie Morse, Julie’s mother, Charlotte (Lotte) Morse, step-daughter, Jennifer Lombard, sister, Eleanor Morse and brother, Alan Morse. His son, Stephen Morse, is predeceased. Other living relatives include over 20 first cousins who live both nationally and internationally.
In remembrance of Philip Stabler Morse’s life, the family asks that any charitable donations be made to ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), or UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund).