Dr. Leon Morris, 85, noted clinical and forensic psychologist, died peacefully in his home in Wichita Falls on July 16, 2026, following treatments for kidney failure.  Five weeks earlier on June 10, his wife, Leslie, of 60 years, died unexpectedly of complications from surgery.

Leon was the first of two children of Lewis Don Morris and Emma Faye Cole Morris. He was born in Fort Worth on Aug. 24, 1940.  He went by his middle name and never used his first name, Marvin, unless it was a legal necessity.

He was a product of Fort Worth public schools:  Morningside Elementary, Daggett and Meadowbrook Junior High Schools, and a 1958, graduate of Polytechnic High School.  He began at Arlington State College, now University of Texas at Arlington, studying engineering but switched to psychology, which was what he really loved.

Leon and Leslie both graduated from ASC in 1965, and married on their mutual birthday, Aug. 24, 1965. Their son David was born in 1968, and daughter Julie, in 1970.  He did his graduate studies in psychology at University of North Texas, where he earned his doctorate in 1971.  He was proud to be the first, and so far the only, member of the Morris family to earn a doctorate. Leon and his family moved for him to do his internship at the Wichita Falls State Hospital. They chose to remain there, where he established his private practice, the Wichita Falls Neuropsychiatric Center at 2410 9th Steet.  Psychiatrist Jack Tomlinson joined him there, working together for more than 40 years.

Growing up, Leon and his sister Rita assumed responsibility early after their parents divorced.  He got a hardship driver's license at 14 because their mother didn't drive.  But he loved to drive, and he loved cars. His father taught him how to work on cars, how to water ski, and how to hunt and fish.  Later, he restored classic cars, and his red Beetle convertible was his show car baby. In the early 1970s he drove in the Autocross race of the Sports Car Club of America.  From the early 1950s he loved rhythm and blues music, and he played bass in a band in Wichita Falls. In high school, psychology was a hobby; he taught himself to do hypnosis. Then psychology became a lifelong passion.

In 2018 Leon was interviewed on Dateline NBC for his work using hypnosis to help solve a cold case of attempted murder in Albuquerque.  In 2008, 17-year old Brittani Marcell was brutally beaten but had no memory of it until 2014 when a new detective brought Leon in on the case. Elements of her memory slowly returned, and in 2016 a name came to her.  Dateline called the case "The Match" because there was DNA confirmation.

Leon is survived by his son David and wife Sarah Morris and their sons Parker and Carter, all of Wichita Falls, and by his daughter Julie and husband Jason Brown of Henrietta.  Other survivors include his sister Rita Morris Vinson of Fort Worth; his long-time office assistant, Judy Young; plus close friend Carol Hayes Skidmore; as well as cousins and extended family members.

A service to honor Leon's life will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, July 31, 2026, at Lunn's Colonial Funeral Home, located at 2812 Midwestern Parkway, Wichita Falls, TX 76307.  The family is grateful for the care provided by Visiting Angels and by Refuge Hospice.