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In Memory

Brett Stephen Morse - Class Of 1961 VIEW PROFILE

Brett Stephen Morse

(From S B Tribune June 29, 1987)
The former president of the former Morse Electric Co. of South Bend and his 17-year old son were killed Friday afternoon in the crash of a private plane in New York State.

Killed were Brett S. Morse, 44, of Manlius, N.Y., and his son, Daniel S. Morse, 17. They were passengers in a twin-engine cessna aircraft that failed to clear a 2,200 foot ridge in a remote region of Lake Minnewaska State Park in Ulster County, N.Y. Also killed were the pilot, Harold Limpert, 58, of Camillus, N.Y., and another passenger, Travis Thomas of Watertown, N.Y.

Morse Electric was ranked in 1981 as among the 45 largest electric contractors in the U. S., but declining sales in 1982 forced the company into bankruptcy. The company, best known as an installer of electric traffic signals in Sought Bend, ended operations in 1982 after 32 years.

The plane left Stewart Air Force Base near Windsor, N.Y., on Friday afternoon and was en route to Syracuse, N.Y., according to New York State Police. When the plane failed to arrive at Syracuse, a search was begun. A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter sighted the wreckage in densely wooded and mountainous area. The bodies were sent to Syracuse by the Ulster County Medical Examiner's Office for autopsy. The crash is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Brett Morse was a electrical estimating engineer for Kay-R Electric Co., Syracuse, N.Y. He was born Oct. 12, 1942, in Gary and had lived in Sought Bend most of his life, moving to Manlius two ago.

On Aug. 29, 1965, in Sought Bend, he married Gail Berebitsky, who survives. Also surviving are two daughters, Lisa Morse, a student at Indiana University, Bloomington, and Shellie Morse at home; two sisters, Toni McDougal of South Bend and Jan Morse-Upstrom of Midletown, Ohio; and his mother Shirley H. Morse of South Bend.

He was a 1965 graduate of Purdue University who had served as president of his class. He was a member of Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity, National Electrical Contractors Association, Rotary, Masonic Lodge 45 F &AM, Sinai Synagogue, and was manager of his son's hockey team in Syracuse.

Services will be at noon Thursday at Sinai Synagogue. Burial will be in Hebrew Orthodox Cemetery.



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