MORRIS, Keith Joseph

Keith was schooled at Waverley College where he admitted to being more interested in cricket and tennis than his lessons.  In fact, following in his Cousin Morris Curotta’s footsteps, a dual Olympian in 1948 and 1952, Keith would tell his family stories of how he had received a medal for swimming. It was not until the family was grown that he showed them the medal and with much laughter admitted that it had been inscribed and given to him by his mother.

 

Following his bar-mitzvah in Sydney when he was 13, Keith and his mother relocated to Brisbane to join his grandparents Pinky and Annie Fine and his mother’s sister, Hettie Allen and her family and enjoy the benefits of an extended family.  They all lived a few doors away from each other on Oxlade Drive at New Farm. Keith attended Gregory Terrace, he often spoke of many happy days playing tennis with his cousin Coral at her house and fishing on the Brisbane River at a time when the water was blue and the fish were still biting.

 

Keith was lucky enough to find his calling early and he left school to study pharmacy after grade 10 at the Royal Brisbane Hospital.  On the first day, he was asked to grind up 4 ounces of cork in a mortar with a pestle. This was a joke they played on first year apprentices. After qualifying, Keith worked in a busy dispensing pharmacy in Queen Street at Nat Green’s in the City before starting his own business at Red Hill at the tender age of 21.  Keith practised from that pharmacy for over 40 years with his beloved Carmel at his side. 

 

Anyone who knew Keith would be aware of how happy he was in his professional life, close to a few doctors that were his great friends and with dozens of long-standing customers – a couple who even named children after him.

 

Keith was introduced to Carmel at a camp at Tallebudgera held by the Jewish sports’ group, Maccabi.  He was instantly smitten by the raven hair beauty and you might be surprised to know that despite the 12-year age gap he turned Carmel’s head enough for her to break off an engagement to marry him several months later in February 1958.  Jan was born in December of that year and Linda followed three years later.  Keith was then complete – he adored his three girls and was a devoted father.  He was even more delighted when Jan gave birth to Alana and Rachel and as he was retired by then he loved being available to take them almost every week to ride the merry-go-round at Broadbeach. 

 

If asked, Keith would say there were two areas where he did not display model parenting.  The first was when he decided he was too lazy to mow the lawn.  He surprised Carmel with his purchase of a lamb, called ‘Lamb-Chop’.  He used to go around the neighbourhood early in the mornings stealing nasturtiums for it and almost drove a neighbour mad as he was studying for finals as a vet and thought he was hallucinating with the constant bleating. Carmel insisted the lamb be re-homed after having to drag it by the shoulders out of their timber-floored sunroom a number of times.  The other example was his relationship with letterboxes.  He blew up many a letterbox on cracker night to Carmel’s disgust and the girls’ delight and successfully ran over a friend’s letterbox reversing out of their driveway.

 

Keith was a founding and active member of the Ashgrove Rotary Club, which he loved for the male fellowship because his working and home life was so female orientated. Rugby league was one of Keith’s greatest passions and prior to the days of his beloved Bronco’s and the NRL, he was a committee member at Wests’ Rugby League club in the team’s heyday of Ritchie Twist, Errol Stock and Wayne Stewart. 

 

After retiring from pharmacy in the mid 1980’s, Keith and Carmel relocated to the Gold Coast although he commuted to Brisbane a couple of days a week for a number of years to do locum work until computers got the better of him. One of his locum jobs was at a Medical Centre Pharmacy near the City.  One night as Keith was about to close the shop, a patient walked into the pharmacy out of the gloom of the now closed medical suite with acupuncture needles stuck all over her. Her doctor had put her in the back room, forgotten about her and had gone home.

 

Again, Keith and Carmel threw themselves into an active social life on the Coast and were proud to be foundation members of the Probus Club of Robina. Certainly, before Keith became ill, they would be involved with many a bus trip, Australia Day bar-b-q at their house for up to 100-people and breakfasts on the beach.

 

Keith suffered some very poor health in his later years but he was still riding a bike with his mate, George, into his 70’s.  Keith and Carmel were also able to indulge in their love of travel over the years, including 19 cruises around many parts of the world. Keith’s tenacious spirit meant that he fought to stay with his family to the very end but a fall on his 91st birthday proved too much trauma for his failing organs. 

 

For a genuinely kind, loving and generous soul, we hope they play Abba as the theme music in heaven.