SPRINGFIELD — When Richard J. Morris died this year at age 84, his sister said greater Springfield lost an unsung hero.

“He lived a life of service and made a positive impact on all who knew him,” said Joan Morris Reilly, who worried her brother’s story would be buried by other news — so she has come forward to tell the tale of a remarkable life that might otherwise have gotten lost in the din of the day.

Richard, known as Dick, was born in Springfield on Nov. 15, 1938. He attended public school in Springfield, graduating from Classical High School and joining the U.S. Coast Guard to sail the seven seas — to visit every continent on the globe.

Assigned to its Search and Rescue Division, Morris would help save countless lives on missions that brought him inside the eye of so many storms, heading into driving winds and churning seas.

The city native was bold but not boastful, not one to brag about his adventures. But there was this one harrowing rescue Morris Reilly remembers him talking about.

“He didn’t say much, only that it was one of his first missions, and they rescued a ship that had flipped on its side. It was in some really bad weather and was a very hard mission,” she said.

The U.S. Coast Guard's General Greene, which the late Richard Morris of Springfield helped to rescue in a storm.U.S. Coast Guard

That story can be found in the archives of the Foundation of Coast Guard History. Patrol boat General Greene was attempting the rescue off the coast of Massachusetts on March 7, 1960, when it sailed into New England’s worst storm of the year. Her engines died when the towline wrapped around her propellers. Powerful winds and 40-foot waves drove her onto the beach in Sandwich, where she landed on her side.

Springfield's Richard Morris served upon the U.S. Coast Guard Acushnet.U.S. Coast Guard

Morris served on the Coast Guard cutter Acushnet, which responded to the emergency, saving the General Greene and its crew. Morris Reilly remembers listening to her brother and his friends recall the rescue, and they would tease him at the end of their story.

“They said, ‘Darn him. He’s the only one who didn’t get seasick,’” she said with a laugh.

In the mid- to late 1960s, Morris and the cutter he was stationed on entered the war in Vietnam, helping the U.S. Navy block and repel enemy ships trying to supply the Viet Cong. The crew carried out its mission without any engagements that Morris told his family about. But like so many veterans, he didn’t say much about Vietnam.

U.S. Coast Guard serviceman Richard Morris, who worked in search and rescue. DIck always had a coffee in his hand. He said it would help him stay awake during his overnight shifts on the cutter.Morris family photo

Morris and his shipmates earned the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross, a military decoration of the former government of South Vietnam. The medal recognized deeds of valor.

While Morris had a distinguished career at sea, he would also play a role in historic events on land.

When President Ronald Reagan was shot during an attempted assassination in 1981, Vice President George Bush became acting president, as doctors rushed to save Reagan’s life. Morris was part of a team dispatched to safeguard Bush at the family’s home in Kennebunkport, Maine. He and his team were there to assist the Secret Service, which was on high alert.

“Dick told us there were agents with guns everywhere. Mr. Bush liked to go fishing on his boat with the agents. But my brother remembered a Secret Service agent saying, ‘OK, party’s over.’ There was no fishing. It all changed once he became the acting president,” said Morris Reilly.

Here is Dick Morris, around the time he would have been in Springfield Public Schools.Morris family photo

After serving in the Coast Guard for 26 years — achieving the rank of master chief — Morris worked as a nuclear technician at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, and then as shipping manager for a manufacturer of networking computer equipment based in Rochester, New Hampshire, where he lived with his wife and two children.

A dedicated family man, Morris also played an important role in the lives of Boy Scouts in troop 186. As scoutmaster, he helped kids soar, guiding countless adolescents, including his son, on their road to becoming eagle scouts. He encouraged the boys, telling them being an eagle would look good on their resumes.

Morris was the oldest of seven children. He was a steady, reassuring presence in the family — always there for his siblings. “He was the person we could go to and ask, ‘What do I do?’ He was very calm. He had an I’ll-take-care-of-it attitude. Everything came easy to him, and he made us feel better,” said Morris Reilly.

When he retired, Morris managed to get his hands on a 10-foot anchor, which he had placed prominently in the front yard of his single-story white ranch.

“He wanted to tell the world he had dropped anchor,” said Morris Reilly. The anchor was a monument to his life and career.

Morris passed away at home on June 11. He did end up sailing around the world, visiting continents across the northern and southern hemispheres — including Antarctica.

He was living alone when he died. His wife passed away two years ago, and his children were grown and gone.

Morris Reilly, 82, said she called him every other week.

“It’s hard when you’re alone all the time. He wasn’t used to it. He’d been on a ship with 500 guys. His dying happened so fast. Believe me, I couldn’t talk about it for a long time. I was closest to him. I was second in line. I was older than my other brothers and sisters,” she said.

When Morris stopped working, his sister went to New Hampshire for his retirement ceremony, and she beamed when a co-worker praised him.

“He said, ‘How do you say goodbye to Dick? He was unbelievable, just great to work with.’”