'Toni' Morrison, Son Of Ex-Mayor, Dies At 52
Times Picayune  08-23-1996

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DeLesseps S. "Toni" Morrison Jr., the son of a legendary New Orleans mayor who
failed in his own attempt to win the job his father held, died Wednesday of
cancer at his New Orleans home. He was 52.

Mr. Morrison was the son of the reform mayor Chep Morrison, who led New
Orleans from 1946 to 1961, when he was appointed ambassador to the
Organization of American States. Chep Morrison died in a plane crash in 1964.

The younger Mr. Morrison was a state legislator when he ran for mayor in a
crowded 1977 primary. Although he tried to win the same voters who had elected
his father four times, he did not make the runoff. Dutch Morial was the
eventual victor.

Mr. Morrison, who had been president of the Young Democrats of America and a
member of Democratic National Committee's executive committee, resigned from
the Legislature in 1980 to pursue business ventures.

A lifelong New Orleanian, Mr. Morrison earned undergraduate and law degrees
from Louisiana State University.

He specialized in international business, immigration and foreign trade.

Early in his career, Mr. Morrison was assistant to the president of the
International Trade Mart. He also was vice president of Valley Green
International Trading Corp., based in New Orleans and San Paulo, Brazil.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Mr. Morrison worked to promote the
renewable-energy industry in the Americas, serving as chairman of the
Committee on Renewable Resources for Louisiana and of the first InterAmerican
Conference on Renewable Sources of Energy, held in New Orleans in 1979. It
attracted delegates from 51 countries.

He was executive vice president of the Cordell Hull Foundation for
International Education, and worked with the federal State and Energy
departments to get grants for Louisiana university pilot projects on renewable
energy. He also was chairman of the Louisiana Alcohol Fuels Corp., which
developed an ethanol plant in Myrtle Grove.

For the past 2 1/2 years, Mr. Morrison was associated with Waldemar S. Nelson
International as an international business adviser and legal counsel for
development projects in South and Central America, Haiti and China.

Survivors include a sister, Corinne Ann Morrison; a son, deLesseps S. "Chep"
Morrison III; and a daughter, Corinne Morrison Marcus.

A Mass will be said Saturday at noon at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home, 5100
Pontchartrain Blvd. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. Burial will be in
Metairie Cemetery.