George Percival Morrill, writer, editor, and beloved father, died on Saturday January 3, 2015.

He was born May 14, 1920 in Montclair, NJ, son of George Pillsbury Morrill and Alice Maude Gray Morrill. In 1925 his family moved to Coral Gables, FL and then several years later, during the depths of the depression, to Westbrook, CT. It was there, at age eleven, that he met Phyllis Christensen, who would be the love of his life.

In 1938, George graduated from Mount Hermon School in Northfield, Massachusetts and enrolled as a freshman in Wesleyan University in Middletown CT. There he starred in football and track and was editor of the student newspaper and literary magazine. He was a member of Phi Nu Theta fraternity and was tapped for the Mystical 7 secret society. He graduated from Wesleyan president of his class in 1942 and, with the nation now at war, enlisted in the Merchant Marines and took courses at Kings Point Academy on Long Island. Starting as an able bodied seaman; he continued his officer's training and became a third mate. His voyages took him on dangerous wintery crossings of the North Atlantic, dodging German submarine packs … then through the Suez Canal into the vast reaches of the Pacific. One of his vivid memories was being at the wheel of his tanker when the Suez pilot motioned to turn starboard. George questioned the order but was told to go ahead-and did so. Crunch. In no time, Right Rudder Morrill was famous as the sailor who'd managed to run aground in the Suez Canal. Years later, he still vigorously maintained his innocence.

While at home, just before the war ended, he married Phyllis Christensen. After the war he taught veterans on the G.I. Bill at the University of Connecticut in New London. In 1948, with their first son, the young couple moved to Saxtons River, Vermont, where George found a run down property on Hartley Hill Mountain. Just what he was looking for. He got a job with a printing company and began work on his dream property. Phyllis started the first kindergarten in the town.

With the birth of three more sons, the family returned to Connecticut, and George became the editor at American Education Publications, then owned by Wesleyan. Phyllis taught at the local schools. Come every summer, the family headed north to Saxtons River as George and his sons slowly transformed his rugged slice of Vermont hillside into a mini-miracle with three ponds - one a great swimming hole for local families - and a commanding view of the valley.
Meanwhile, George was writing on his own. He began with short stories and before long had sold several to such famous magazines as Colliers and The Saturday Evening Post. He also used his experiences at sea to write a novel about life on a freighter during the war. Titled Dark Sea Running, it won George an MA Degree from Wesleyan. The book got excellent reviews in the New York Times Review of Books and elsewhere. Dark Sea Running has been compared with The Cruel Sea, by Nicholas Monsarrat.

As time passed, George wrote other books. Snow, Stars and Wild Honey tells the story of the struggles and triumphs of Hartley Hill. The Blake Streak is a novel set on a PT boat in the Pacific during World War II. The most recent book, To Touch a Lonely Star, is a novel that centers on small town life on the CT shore during the Great Depression-and is really a saga about the glories and trials of youth in a town like the Westbrook that George and Phyllis knew so well.

For Wesleyan, George wrote the biography of John Emory Andrus, a Wesleyan graduate who during the late 1800's thrived in business, made a huge fortune and along with his later family brought millions of dollars to the university. He was known as The Multimillionaire Straphanger, because he insisted on riding the trolley to work in New York City.

Also, as a lover of books, George served for 30 years on the board of the Brainerd Memorial Library in Haddam and was an important supporter of its expansion.

George is survived by his four sons: Peter of Higganum, CT, Michael and his wife Laura of Pittsburgh, PA, Christopher of Saxtons River, VT, Timothy and his wife Peggy of Higganum, and grandchildren Matthew Morrill of NC, Catherine Morrill of VT, and Molly and William Morrill of PA.

There are no calling hours. A graveside service and honor guard will be held at the Cypress Cemetery in Westbrook, CT, for family and friends on Friday (Jan. 9th) at noon. There will be a gathering at the Higganum Congregational Church, 23 Parsonage Rd., Higganum, after the service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent in George's memory to the Brainerd Memorial Library, 920 Saybrook Road, Haddam, CT 06438.