A trip to Glenville illustrates the story of what a couple can do for a college and a community.

Glenville State recently dedicated the Morris Criminal Justice Center. The I.L. and Sue Morris Stadium is the home of GSC football. A weight-training facility adjacent to the stadium includes their names as major contributors. The Sue Morris Sports Complex, which consists of several picturesque softball and baseball fields, also is nearby.

It’s a strong bond that connects the Morris family with the college and the area. They have been avid boosters of the college athletic teams for several decades. Sue Morris served on the GSC Foundation Board before accepting a position four years ago on the college Board of Directors. She now chairs that organization.

Ike served on the committee that chose Peter B. Barr as the new college president. He also helped establish an accounting textbook scholarship and create an accounting faculty position.

Ironically, neither Ike nor Sue is a Gilmer County native. He moved here from Illinois in 1962 to set up a small oil and gas drilling operation. She was a co-ed at the time, attending GSC on an academic scholarship. Coming from a Taylor County coal mining family of seven children, it was her only collegiate option financially speaking. She was pursuing a degree in education on the occasion of meeting her husband-to-be.

She vividly recalls their first “formal” introduction in a local store not far from the small trailer where she lived. Pointing at Sue, Ike made a proclamation that day to the shoppers.

“I’m going to marry that gal,” he announced.

Although their only previous encounters had been limited to Ike’s flirtatious honks of his horn and friendly waves as she walked to class, his prophetic statement would indeed come true. With “their constellations lined up perfectly,” as Sue Morris said, the couple decided to raise their two children in the area.

While Sue Morris earned her teaching degree by listening to professors in the classrooms “on the hill” of the college, Ike Morris was busy learning in the surrounding countryside.

“I listened to a lot of good horse traders,” said the grandfather of four. “I got a good education from people wearing bib overalls.”

Those common-sense lessons helped him develop Waco Oil & Gas Co. and other business interests into profitable enterprises.

“There was an oil and gas boom here in the early ’60s,” he said. “We fell into it, and I made more good deals than bad ones. Some of those deals came right up to my door. Life has been pretty good to me and my family. All I had to do was work.”

Ike Morris said he will not forget acts of kindness extended by neighbors during the tough times. Local merchants, for instance, helped him get back on his feet after a fire devastated his trailer.

“Gilmer County has good people, and they have always been good to me,” he said. “How could I turn my back on Gilmer County? And Glenville State College is the heart of the community.”

GSC’s Barr noted the Morrises’ giving nature and ever-growing legacy.

“Ike and Sue Morris are totally invested in Gilmer County and Glenville State College,” he said. “They have been incredible supporters. I don’t want to downplay the money (they have donated). That’s important, but they have also contributed professionally and personally with the dedication of their time.”

Several years ago, the local school system was experiencing a financial crunch. One of the remedies suggested was the reduction or elimination of extracurricular activities. Sue Morris helped prevent that from happening by dedicating her salary for the final 16 years of her career to help fund the school athletic programs.

Although some contributors choose to make their gifts as a memorial, the Morrises are convinced there is no reason to wait. The criminal justice facility, for instance, was a vacant shoe factory. They acquired the 43,000-square-foot building and helped with the extensive renovation that now is in progress. The facility is a cooperative effort between the college and the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety and will bring jobs and students to the area.

“It’s been so rewarding,” Ike Morris added. “It’s like the new ball fields. A lot of Gilmer County kids never had a ground ball roll to them that would stay flat because it had to roll over five or six rocks.

“To get to go over there and sit on those bleachers and watch a game is so much more rewarding than to have them put your name on it after you’re gone. To have one of the players or their parents or their grandparents come up and thank you for the field … well, a thank you is a pretty good payday.”

Under Barr administration’s leadership, the Morrises say GSC is making significant strides.

“Peter has great ideas, and he puts things in motion,” Ike Morris said. “He can take an idea and make it happen. And Betsy (Barr’s wife) has done such a great job as our first lady at the college. I feel so comfortable with what they are doing here.”

Sue Morris agreed.

“Things are happening at Glenville State College,” she said. “It’s a very exciting time here.”

GSC has some unique characteristics. More than 65 percent of the students are from families with low to moderate income, and 75 percent are first-generation college students. Still, enrollment recently increased from 1,443 to 1,673, and a 484-bed dormitory is in the works.

The next major project is a $40 million campaign to construct a new athletic convocation center, a 24-hour medical care center and a land resources program. The goal is to begin construction on the 110,000-square-foot facility by 2012. More than $10 million has been raised as this point, including the Morrises, $5 million challenge gift.

“If everybody does just a little bit, then nobody has to do a whole lot,” Ike Morris said. “I know it’s going to happen.”