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March 29, 1954 – December 20, 2024

Manteo, NC – Jerry Dean Morris was born on March 29, 1954, in Gastonia, North Carolina. His earliest memories were of building forts with his granddad’s firewood and sharing Hershey’s chocolate bars with him. It wasn’t long after that he was engineering his “go-kart” from the ground up. Once he solved his steering dilemma, he conquered every hill within a 5-mile radius of his home in the mountains of western NC. His best memories in his youth were of hunting and working with his uncle Raymond. And of the Bell 47 helicopter that made a special flight every so often just so that he could wave at it, wave and wonder how the dang thing flew.

When he got a job at one of the local mills, it did not take long for him to go from floor sweeper to “fixer,” the guy they called when the machines went down. As much as the mill was going to miss him, Dean was destined for bigger things, and he wanted to go to Vietnam. He joined the Army in 1972, graduated Airborne School, went through helicopter training, and missed the cutoff for Vietnam. Instead of Vietnam, he was sent to Korea.

After his tour in Korea, Dean was stationed in Fort Hood, TX. His life would change forever while on leave back home to North Carolina in December of 1974. After a blind date and an 8-day whirlwind romance he proposed to Joyce Ann, the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, she looked just like Cher. They were married on March 2, 1975, and welcomed their first child, Jeremy, not long after.

When their second son, Joshua, came along Dean decided to leave the Army. He went to work as a helicopter crew chief for Petroleum Helicopters, flying from rig to rig along the Louisiana Gulf coast. They welcomed two more sons, Jonathan and then Joseph, and then it was time for a change again. Dean moved the family back to North Carolina and went to work for Omniflight as a roving mechanic.

In 1986, he found his dream job. He was sent to help out with Dare MedFlight in Manteo. He moved the family to paradise shortly after they welcomed their baby girl, Jamie, into the world. In 1989, Dean left Omniflight and joined Dare County as the Chief of Maintenance for Dare MedFlight, where he became known far and wide as the Kopter Doctor.

While on the Outer Banks, Dean began to pursue his passion for flying. He loved flying so much that he opened up Flywright Aviation where he was the head flight instructor and only mechanic. He always put safety above dollars and never turned away anyone who needed a helping hand or a “fixer.”

Dean retired from Dare MedFlight in August of 2014. He retired not only as the mechanic, but also a MedFlight pilot.

On April 2, 2020, Dean lost Joyce. On December 20, 2024, Dean joined her in heaven with their grandson, Jaden Aaron Morris. He is preceded in death by his parents, Samuel and Margaret.

He is survived by his sisters, Libby and Sheila; his children, Jamie and son-in-law Nathan Mauffray, Jeremy, Joshua, Jonathan and daughter-in-law Michael, and Joseph and daughter-in-law Christy; his grandchildren, Brendon, Isaac, Rebecca, Sophia, Chloe, Lucas, and Richard “Dean.”

A celebration of life for Dean and Joyce will be held on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at Twiford Funeral Home in Manteo, North Carolina, at 2 p.m. For those unable to attend in person, a live stream of the celebration will be available at www.TwifordFH.com.

In lieu of flowers, Dean asked that donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (PO Box 3704, Memphis, TN 38101-2132) and Salem Baptist Church in Gastonia, NC (Attn: Junior Morris, 115 White Pine Dr., Dallas, NC 28034).

Twiford Funeral Homes, Outer Banks is assisting the family with arrangements. Condolences and memories may be shared at www.TwifordFH.com.

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