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John Julius Morris (1925-2017) was born January 9th in Canby Oregon. He was a conscientious objector based on his Mennonite religion during WWII. He grew up on a farm in Canby, Oregon with his twin brother and three other siblings. Morris finished school with an eighth grade education. His father, Glen Morris, served in the navy and worked in a paper mill in Washington before moving to Oregon. He became a Christian several years after marrying Elva Schultz (John Morris's mother) who was brought up in a very conservative Mennonite church.

John Morris married Miriam Rempel in 1949 and together they had three children. He worked as a mill worker and lumber grader and was involved with the Mennonite World Relief Festival. During WWII, Morris was drafted and spent 32 months in Civilian Public Service where he built irrigation ditches in Downey, Idaho, and worked for the Forest Service in Camino, California. The Civilian Public Service was a government program that provided conscientious objectors with an alternative to military service during WWII. He, along with other volunteers, were supported by the Mennonite Central Committee.