JOHN H. "JAY" MORRIS, JR. R.I.P.

Ponte Vedra resident and Republican former County Commission Chair JOHN H. "JAY" MORRIS, 83, has died.    Here is MORRIS's obituary, where  claims he ran for Commissioner because of an "epiphany."  In fact and in truth, MORRIS stated that he ran for County Commissioner after he was urged to do so by Sheriff DAVID SHOAR, who legally changed his name from "HOAR" in 1994.  With silence or participation of the St. Augustine Record, State's Attorney, Medical Examiner and the St. Johns County Establishment, Sheriff DAVID SHOAR successfully covered up the September 2, 2010 murder of Ms. Michelle O'Connell in the home of Deputy Jeremy Banks. We finally learned the truth thanks to three-time Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter Walt Bogdanich, The New York Times and PBS Frontline. 

Angry controlling corporate oligarch County Commission Chair JAY MORRIS mocked and opposed Sunshine laws. MORRIS repeatedly bragged on his business experience, ad nauseam.  The truth is that MORRIS was EVP of RPM International, which settled for $60,058.963 a federal False Claims Act qui tam case brough by a former TREMCO subsidiary VP involving poor quality products and illegally high prices charged for government jobs, including bad roofs on University of Florida Shands Hospital and other government buildings. 

As I wrote on this blog in 2014:

The fraud case against RPM International was filed under seal and settled more than three years later, with monies distributed to both the whistleblower and to the U.S. Government (represented by the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice), with funds also going to the State of Florida, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and the City of Chicago intervened. 

The lawsuit against MORRIS' longtime company was filed under the False Claims Act, otherwise known as the “Abraham Lincoln law,” which was initially enacted during the Civil War to remedy the legendary corruption under Secretary of War Simon Cameron, when the Union Army was swindled by sellers of “shoddy” blankets that fell apart (hence the name “shoddy"), horses that were lame, guns that misfired, and uniforms that fell apart in the rain. (Cameron was so corrupt Lincoln sent him way, to be our Ambassador to Russia). The Lincoln law was revived by Congress in the 1980s (having been weakened before the outbreak of World War II, as a sop to corporations that wanted to become arms merchants, including anti-Semite Henry Ford's Ford Motor Company).

The qui tam False Claims Act action against MORRIS' former company of 22 years was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, by former TREMCO Vice President Gregory Rudolph. Mr. Rudoph alleged that TREMCO and RPM defrauded the federal, state and local governments – including the Veterans Administration hospitals, the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force, nine states and the City of Chicago – by selling overpriced and shoddy roofing coatings.

Among the victims of leaky roofs in Florida were the University of Florida's Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Okaloosa County Schools, Sarasota County and the City of Pinellas Park.

Approved government contractors on a General Services Administration “schedule” are required to sell at the lowest price offered other purchasers. 

In fact, RPM's TREMCO subsidiary granted deep discounts to the private sector -- 30-40% -- while offering GSA and other government customers only a 13.3% discount. Taxpayers were ripped off by MORRIS' former company.

The 69 page qui tam False Claims Act lawsuit was filed July 15, 2010 and settled on or about August 27, 2013. 

Recruited to run by Sheriff DAVID SHOAR, mendacious mean-spiritedmartinet JOHN H. MORRIS, JR. liked to insult public comment speakers, including me. As a pilot and pilot, MORRIS was awarded a Bronze Star in Vietnam. MORRIS was resentful when I once spoke of my Father winning three (3) Bronze Stars in WWII (my dad modestly told me that"they gave one to everyone who jumped."). MORRIS was a developer-funded doormat, lacking critical thinking skills. Circa 2015, MORRIS publicly attacked me, stating that I did not attend a budget meeting, as if that disqualified me from speaking.  I wore his scorn as a badge of honor. In 2016, I started attending annual budget meetings.  MORRIS had 7+ deputies and security personnel at the cramped HHS conference room where budget meetings were then held, with no video live streaming and disrespect shown to public speakers (not even a podium, so I brought my own)  Today, SJC holds its first budget meeting in a cramped conference room in the County Administration Building. At least there will be live streaming.  Pray for the soul of JOHN H. MORRIS, JR.  From St. Augustine Record and Florida Times Union:

John H. Morris, Jr.

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John (Jay) H. Morris, 83, of Ponte Vedra Beach, passed away on April 24, 2025. Jay was born in Pittsburgh, PA to John and Margaret Morris. He was one of four siblings. His family moved to Chatham, NJ in 1955 and he attended Chatham High School where he lettered in soccer, basketball and tennis. He and his wife were high school sweethearts. 

Jay went to West Virginia University on a full soccer scholarship and was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. He joined ROTC and graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Marketing. He later earned his MBA in Finance at the Weatherhead School of Management of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. Upon graduation from WVU, Jay reported to duty at Fort Eustis, VA and was transferred shortly after to Fort Rucker, AL to attend fixed-wing flight school. A year later, he was deployed to Phu Loi, Vietnam for a 13-month tour of duty. He flew a FAC plane (forward-air-control aka L19 or Bird Dog) responsible for calling in artillery. He was rotated out as Captain having earned The Bronze Star, The Distinguished Flying Cross, and 16 Air Medals. He served his country with great honor and valor. 

On return home, Jay had successful careers with the Armstrong Cork Co. and General Tire. At 35, he joined a small NASDAQ company, RPM Inc. as the 3rd man in their management team. As Executive VP, they grew the company into a global, multi-million-dollar NYSE corporation. He served on RPM’s Board of Directors as well as the Board of Directors of Northeast Ohio’s Fifth Third Bank.

Jay and his wife, Susan, lived and raised their two boys in Hudson, Ohio for 26 years before retiring to Ponte Vedra Beach in 2000. There he served on The Plantation’s Board of Directors and Finance Committee. He also headed the Finance Committee of the United Methodist Church (now known as Ponte Vedra Church) and was responsible for locating the property on which their church now stands. Ten years after retirement, Jay had an epiphany and decided to run for County Commissioner of St. Johns County where he served two terms. June 20th would have been their 62nd anniversary.

Jay was always optimistic and saw the glass half full all the time. He believed in people’s abilities even more then they often did themselves. With all his successes, though, the one he was most proud of was his family who he adored. He loved supporting them in their careers, their sports and all other accomplishments.

Jay is survived by his loving wife, Susan H. Morris, his son, Scott (Leslie) of Ponte Vedra Beach, his son, Kirk (Melissa) of Dayton, OH, his sister, Margaret (Collins), and his brother, Richard. He is also survived by his 6 grandchildren: Logan, McKenzie, Aidan, Austin, Brody and Kate.

“A Celebration of Life” service will be held in his honor at Ponte Vedra Church, 76 S. Roscoe Blvd., Ponte Vedra Beach FL 32082 on Friday, June 13, at 11:00. 

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to “Tunnels to Towers” (T2T) for wounded soldiers and homeless vets or to Ponte Vedra Church. Please visit his online Tribute at www.quinn-shalz.com. Arrangements by…