He was born on June 15, 1923 in Memphis, TN to Pauline Whitford Yancey and William Wade Yancey.

He and his wife Jewell English were married in 1942 and had been married for 63 yrs until her passing; they had one daughter Susan who died in 2002. Morris married Kathryn "Pinny" Cook on May 31, 2005.

Morris enlisted in the service on 23 February 1943 at Ft. Oglethorpe, Georiga.

After the war He he returned to college and graduated from Georgia Tech in 1951 with a BS in Industrial Management. After graduation he worked for Lockheed Aircraft in Marietta, GA, and later worked for Milwaukee Electric Tool.

In 1959, he made a career move to Morse Cutting Tools, where he retired in 1990 as District Manager after 31 years of service.