Ken Morrish
Encyclopedia
Ken Morrish nicknamed "Mr. Highland Creek" was a Metro Toronto politician. He served the Scarborough, Ontario
Scarborough, Ontario
Scarborough is a dissolved municipality within the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it comprises the eastern part of Toronto. It is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the west by Victoria Park Avenue, on the north by Steeles Avenue East, and on the east by the Rouge River...

 community as councillor, deputy Metro Toronto Chair and mayor of Scarborough. He is a descendant of the Morrish Family, who were one of the original pioneer settlers in Scarborough.

Morrish, 87, died Sunday, July 30, 2006 at his home following a disabling stroke about four years earlier.

Background

When Morrish was 18, he took responsibility of running the W.D. Morrish Store after his father died. Another Morrish store known as the W.J. Morrish store was operated by his great uncle and was located at Kinsgton Road and Meadowvale. The two are often confused.

The W.D. Morrish general store was located at the corner of Old Kingston Road and Morrish Rd. Based on his success, he constructed several other buildings in the Highland Creek area, including the Highland Creek Plaza at the corner of Morrish Road and Old Kingston Rd.

During World War II, he served as a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Air Force. In 1945, he married his wife Shirley.

Scarborough politics

Morrish also sat on Scarborough city council (and borough council), Metro Councillor for Scarborough Highland Creek and one time interim Mayor of Scarborough. He was a legend in Scarborough and Metro Toronto politics and was dubbed the "Dean of Metro Toronto".

While Morrish was councillor, he endorsed the construction of the Scarborough Expressway, which was a planned extension of the F.G. Gardiner Expressway from Coxwell Avenue to, eventually, the Highway 401 and Highway 2 merger on the border of Scarborough and Pickering. Unfortunately, by the mid-1990s plans have changed and the Gardiner Expressway merged north to the base of the Don Valley Parkway.

In 1997, Morrish retired from politics.

Trivia

  • He is the father-in-law to former Toronto
    Toronto
    Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

     city councillor and budget chief Tom Jakobek
    Tom Jakobek
    Tom Jakobek is a former member of the Toronto City Council. He was first elected to council in 1982 after serving as a school trustee, and remained a member until 2000....

    .
  • Morrish's other great love in life was owning, showing and racing horses.
  • In 1999, the group of softball diamonds at East Point Park was renamed "The Ken Morrish Softball Complex".

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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