Mike Morton
By: Mayme McManus
Mike was the middle child in a family of three children. He moved to Durango from upstate New York ( I believe), in the early 1970s, with his mom, Ann, his dad, Jim, his older sister, Lynn, and his younger brother, Johnny. He lived in the Crestview area for awhile, when his family moved to town, and he attended Needham elementary, and he may have gone to Miller Junior High for a short while. He then attended Smiley Junior High for 9th grade. What I remember about one of my best buddies from high school, Mike Morton, is that he had the most welcoming and beautiful smiles, ever. It's how I remember him to this day- sharing his bright and friendly smile and doing what he could to make others feel better. Mike had a great, infectious giggle! He loved to laugh, and he also loved to make other people laugh. Mike told me once that he wanted to become a professional stuntman, so that he could do the stunts that other people would not do- or were too afraid to do! He loved to pretend to fall in the hallways and on the stairs, in school, and he was really good at scaring anyone who would watch him do this! You could be walking down the hallway next to Mike, and he would suddenly pretend to trip, and flail himself onto the floor. As long as he made other laugh, he was up for it.
Mike had a special talent for riding a unicycle. In fact that is how I first met him! He was riding his unicycle around the Miller gymnasium,, with his best friend, Dennis Durocher- who was also on a unicycle. Both of the boys would spend hours riding around town during the summer, and even rode in Durango's summer Fiesta parade, at least two, if not three years in a row, wearing funky hats, and twisting and turning amidst other floats, horses and clowns.
Mike was a gentle soul, who tried to stay positive when his home life was challenging and sad, at times. He was very intelligent, and school expectations didn't seem to bother him. Mike was an excellent athlete, and he was passionate about skiing. While he was in high school, he competed and lettered on the varsity ski team all three years. He enjoyed skiing with friends, but he also loved skiing alone, when it was just him and the mountain. He was capable of handling the most difficult slopes, and I remember my amazement at his ability to take the choppy course of a steep, mogul run with the grace and ease of a seasoned athlete.
While in high school, Mike had many friends who appreciated his humor and his warmth. He was known to some of his friends as “Mortie”, and he was popular with many different kinds of students. He was easy to get to know and fun to be with. After high school, Mike traveled to Austria, where he lived for a while, skiing and learning the German language, and the Austrian and German cultures. He may have lived there for a couple of years, and I remember that he said that her liked the experience very much. Durango was his home, though, and he always returned to the Four Corners where his father and brother lived, for many years.
Mike attended Fort Lewis College, for a couple of years. While at Fort Lewis, he performed in the musical and dramatic productions of the FLC's theater department. He became a well-known and respected actor at the college.
