Myrtle Beach crash kills councilman, wife

May 28—Well-known musician and Vigo County Councilman Don Morris and his wife, Cheryl Hart, were killed Thursday while on a sidewalk in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

The two were struck after a two-vehicle collision at 67th Avenue North and Kings Highway, according to the Myrtle Beach Police Master Cpl. Thomas Vest. The crash happened about 1:10 p.m.

When the two vehicles collided, one careened onto the sidewalk, striking the Terre Haute couple, Vest said.

Vest said the coroner's office released the names at 3:57 p.m. Friday.

Horry County Deputy Coroner Patty Bellamy told the Tribune-Star that Morris, 67, and Hart, 63, both died as a result of the incident.

Donald W. "Don" Morris was elected in 2020 to a four-year term as a Democrat to the Vigo County Council. Morris previously three terms on the Terre Haute City Council. He also previously served as administrative assistant to former Terre Haute Mayor Kevin Burke.

Morris was a Terre Haute native, graduating from Garfield High School in 1971; then earning a bachelor's degree in speech communication from Indiana State University and a master's degree in safety management from ISU.

David Haynes, an attorney and former president of the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce, said he received a telephone call about 7 p.m. Thursday "from a mutual friend who told me the news," Haynes said.

"It is a sad day for me personally. He is a lifelong friend. And it is certainly sad for our community. He was loved in many ways, as a musician and entertainer, a great friend and certainly a public servant," Haynes said.

"I am two years older then he was and Don grew up across the alley from me in Highland, which is a neighborhood bordered by 13th Street to the west, Lafayette Avenue on the east, Fort Harrison (Road) on the north and Lost Creek cuts through as the southern border. Back in segregation there was a Black school there called Highland School. That was way before us," Haynes said.

Haynes said Morris released a music CD last spring called "Highland."

"There was a photo of us leaning on a bike. He (Don) was like 5 years old and I was 7 or 8. We looked liked Depression-era kids. I can't remember not knowing him. We have been together our entire lives," Haynes said. "The friends he had he treasured and I was one of those beneficiaries. Life is too short, certainly for them it was. Nancy (Haynes' wife) and I loved them both."

Ashlee Stewart, who works in the Vigo County Heath Department, said she became close to Cheryl, as well as Don, from her parents, Rod and Becky Garvin.

"My parents set them up on a blind date, which is why they were married," Stewart said.

Because of the close connection, Stewart called Cheryl by the title aunt and Don by the title uncle.

"No matter what on my birthday my mom would have to work. It is Nov. 11, so I would be out of school for Veteran's Day. Aunt Cheryl would come pick me up and take me to The Beaver House," a former business on 25th Street, Stewart said.

"(Cheryl) never failed at making sure the tree would come up out of the coy pond inside the restaurant. They did something with the coy and separate it and this Christmas tree would come up. It was the coolest thing ever that a 6 year old could dream of," Stewart said.

It was an annual tradition for Stewart from age 5 until she was age 10.

"Then (Cheryl) had her own kids," Stewart said of Cheryl.

Cheryl's favorite movie was The Wizard of Oz, Stewart said. So much so, she had an artist paint her daughter Carson's room with "a rainbow and four characters on the nursery wall. The artist painted Dorothy, the scarecrow, the tin man and the cowardly lion. It was awesome," Stewart said.

"She was an executive for a trucking company. She was an avid biker and loved a good beer on ice. She was incredible. She was a wonderful mother. Her daughter is her spitting image," Stewart said of Cheryl.

Stewart was with Cheryl last week at the Dawgleg Bar and Grill at Idle Creek Golf Course. Stewart said she texted Cheryl to tell her she was watching Don perform. Cheryl came right away. "We had a beer together, hugged and laughed," she said. "They were good people. It makes your realize how precious life is."

Don Morris developed a large, loyal fan base as a popular musician, both solo and as a band leader. He was inducted into the Wabash Valley Musicians Hall of Fame in 2006.

His Don Morris Band performed at clubs, bars, festivals and concerts around the Wabash Valley and Midwest, including serving as the house band at the former Larry Bird's Boston Connection from 1989 to 1999. He also operated the Club Morris in Seelyville, a nightclub that featured his band, from 1986 to '88.

The band opened for country icons Randy Travis and Keith Whitley before a crowd of 7,500 at Hulman Center in 1987, and opened there for George Strait in 1988. The size of the venue and fans awaiting big-name stars didn't faze Morris, said former DMB member Tracy Richardson.

"He just went out on the stage like he owned it," said Richardson, who joined Morris' band in 1983. "No fear. He just would go for it."

Morris also warmed up sellout crowds at Fairbanks Park for headliners Herman's Hermits, Davy Jones and America during the Banks of the Wabash Festival in the early 2000s. His band also played on bills with country chart-toppers Juice Newton and the Bellamy Brothers. Morris assembled a band to open for Newton in 1981, leading to the formation of his Don Morris Band.

Their tours — which topped 300 gigs in one year — led to some "fun, crazy moments," Richardson recalled. The group frequently played Hank's Place," a huge club located in a dry county in Tennessee, with a massive picture of Hank Williams on one wall. "They only served pop, and people would bring in their drinks in brown paper bags," Richardson said.

Now a music dean at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, Richardson said she learned much about leading a musical effort from Morris. He methodically planned the band's sets, placing up-tempo songs and slow-dance tunes in separate clusters.

"He was certainly a great entertainer. He engaged people, and people loved him," Richardson said.

After his band days, Morris continued performing solo, including events like a Multiple Sclerosis fundraiser this spring. He played virtual concerts through Facebook live during shutdown months of the COVID-19 pandemic, including one from the rooftop of his house.

It was The Beatles' invasion of America in 1964 that drew Morris into music. The date of their appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" was etched in his memory. "February 9, 1964. That was the end, man," he said in an interview with the Tribune-Star in 2015.

He joined his first band at age 13, after his parents bought him a guitar, which he learned to play righthanded, even though he was a lefty. Morris continued performing while a student at Garfield High School. Morris also played basketball there, and scored the final basket in Garfield history in 1971, just before the school closed.

As a member of that last Purple Eagles Class of '71, Morris was due to perform at his 50th class reunion next month.

At age 62, Morris returned to recording in friend and longtime fellow musician Dave Peterson's studio. Together, they produced Morris' "When You Think About Me" album in 2015. Peterson formally met Morris when they got paired up to play at a wedding.

"We hit it off well," Peterson recalled Friday. "Don was an easy fellow to like. We worked pretty closely for four or five years playing and recording music. I have to say that I will carry those memories of the time we spent together, and appreciating the musical abilities that he had as a player and songwriter."

Five years after "When You Think About Me," Morris teamed up with another veteran producer, Don Arney, to record the "Highland" album — a tribute to the Terre Haute neighborhood where he grew up, featuring a compilation of R&B, rock, country and blues crafted with an assortment of Wabash Valley musicians and singers.

Ironically, Arney passed away from cancer last month, and Morris was among the many remembering Arney's talents.

Those final two albums leaves friends, family and fans with nearly 30 of Morris' compositions, largely based on this community. On the sentimental title track of his 2015 album, Morris croons, "If by chance you ever think about me, I hope it brings a smile to your face."

Reporter Howard Greninger can be reached 812-231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com. Follow on Twitter@TribStarHoward. Mark Bennett can be reached at 812-231-4377 or mark.bennett@tribstar.com.