[Information about Locke’s memorial fund has been added at the bottom of this post.]
Locke was Head of Collections, Reference & Research here at Gleeson Library, and his impact has been widely felt, both professionally and personally. The character and service of the Library’s Reference Department as it exists today is largely due to Locke’s thoughtful guidance, and the tireless example he set as a teacher, researcher, and mentor.
Outside of the Library, the USF community who surely most felt Locke’s presence—and consequently will most feel his absence—are the Nursing faculty and thousands of nursing students, past and present, to whom Locke was a devoted teacher.
Locke’s activities were prodigious. He mentored a generation of SJSU library school students with internships at Gleeson; was deeply committed to the library profession, holding positions at the local and national levels; published articles like “Ethical Issues in Collection Development”; responded to email reference questions at all hours of the night. The list goes on.
“Tireless” is a term frequently used to describe Locke, but I think it was instead his devotion that was tireless. Towards the end he was certainly feeling tired and weak; nonetheless, seeing a last teaching opportunity, he held a home session at his bedside for a group of medical students and their teacher to discuss doctor-patient relationships and bedside manner.That is a characteristic example of Locke’s tireless devotion to others.
We invite you to share your thoughts about and experiences with Locke in the comments section below.
Memorial Fund
At Locke’s request, a fund has been established at the University of San Francisco to support Library collections. Checks can be made payable to The University of San Francisco Library, indicating on the memo line, “In Memory of Locke Morrisey.”
Mail to:
Tyrone Cannon
University Library Dean
Gleeson Library | Geschke Center
University of San Francisco
2130 Fulton Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
USF was blessed to have him and will be missed. I usually emailed him for assistance in my research papers and he always have answers.
I had the pleasure of working with Locke first in ACRL Chapters Council and then on the ACRL Board. He always had the inside scoop on ALA politics and personalities, and the ability to frame a narrow issue within a broader context. I appreciated Locke’s quick smile and quicker wit. He will be missed. My sympathy to Al and all of Locke’s family.
I had no idea that Locke had passed away. He was my mentor during my library school internship, and couldn’t have been a better one. Throughout my career, I have aspired to follow his example. The world was a better place with him in it.
My deepest sympathies go out to Al and all of Locke’s family, and to those who worked with him at Gleeson Library and in ALA.
Rest in peace, Locke, knowing that you have truly made a difference.
Locke was a great librarian and person. I was shocked to learn about his passing. It was my great pleasure to work with Locke for five years as Chair of the ACRL Dr. E.J. Josey Spectrum Mentor Committee. He was a dedicated worker on this committee. I could always depend on him to serve on a submcommittee, attend a meeting, or split the cost of refreshment at a restaurant for mentees.
In addition, I served on the ARCL Board with Locke, and he was a good board member. He did an outstanding job as the ACRL Councilor to ALA.
Locke was active at both the local and national levels. I sometimes marvelled at all he was doing because he did it so well. Locke wasn’t the type of person who agreed to do a task to embellish his vitae. I mean he really did the work. When I would be in the office on Saturday doing committee work or working, I would always see an e-mail message from Locke.
In closing, Locke, a consummate professional, was also a valued member of the Gleeson Library staff. I will miss him.
Theresa S. Byrd
I have many fond memories of Locke. He and I interned together at the Louise Darling Biomedical Library while attending the UCLA Graduate School of Library and Information Science (1984 to 1986). We got together now and then over the years after graduation, especially recently in both San Francisco and DC. I am so grateful to have had the chance to see him three times just this past year.
I am grateful to share in honoring Locke’s memory. As with so many others, he was a great mentor to me. What he taught about librarianship, and being a good human being, is enduring.
empty office
empty chair
we look around and
everywhere
are signs of you
but you’re not there.
the reference desk
the classroom space
the meetings
you used to officiate
no longer seem as vibrant now
with you not there.
your easy smile
the words you’d say
to help us through
a difficult day
are memories cherished
in our personal way
by one and all.
we’ll carry on
we’ll do our best
maintain the standards that you set
we know that is
what you’d expect
a promise
important to be kept.
in life
you were someone
we could trust
your gentle spirit
now looks over us
we feel your presence
in all we do
but it’s not the same
without you.
RIP dear Locke
you were the ultimate teacher, mentor and colleague
dm
Debbie this is beautiful…
Thank you, Debbie, for your words. I am sad for all of you who worked with Locke. Clearly he was a wonderful colleague, a great mentor to many. I am inspired by so many tributes to him. I imagine he knew how special he was to you all!
Really lovely, Debbie. Thank you.
I loved your poem for Locke so much feeling. Thank you
Although I knew Locke from only a few fleeting moments at business dinners, I will always remember the warmth of the individual, and the intellect of the professional. God Speed Locke.
I want to offer my most deepest sympathy to Locke’s partner and family. I have been moving around a lot in the past 3 years; I was most happy when I moved to the west coast and was able to reconnect with Locke. He came to Vegas about 3 times in the last 2 years and I missed his last visit. We met during my AJCU days and kept the emails going. He will be missed.
I am so going to miss Locke. He was such a wonderful colleague. He helped me so many times when I needed him even if it meant him having to drive up to the Santa Rosa campus at night—the night before his vacation! I don’t think he ever said no. He had such a big heart and was so smart. He taught me so much as well as my students at all levels from BSN to DNP. Losing Locke has made me think about how much we need to treasure our Librarian colleagues. They are wonderful people and they add so much to our work and to our community. I truly believe we couldn’t do what we do without them. Locke we miss you.
Thank you all for taking the time to share your thoughts, stories and even poetry(!) about my dear brother Locke. While it is heart-warming to read these posts, I can’t get through them and keep a dry eye. Locke loved his work, his coworkers and his colleagues…it is wonderful to see how many lives he touched and how much he was appreciated. Many thanks to the “Gleeson Family” for being so supportive of Locke and of our family – you are the best!
No two ways about it: Locke was irreplaceable. I miss him so much.
Bem
Few express themselves as well as you do. Thank you, Mother
I met Locke thru his teaching a vintage nurse” returning for her DNP, the ins and outs of accessing the Library online. My success in the program was directly related to his instruction AND his commitment to be there for us as we progressed with our research.Just being aware of his dedication and support were gifts given thru his talent and USF. Thank you all for the comments and insight into this lovely man. dr lisa gifford
I will miss Locke, he was a wonderful colleague. My fondest memory of Locke was my 2005 visit to Santa Barbara…we laughed and dined.
Today is my first day to walk into this library and to realize that I won’t see Locke’s smile and hear his friendly “hello.” When I think of Locke, I think of integrity, gentleness, fun-loving, decency, mentorship, and collegiality — Locke was always willing to help teach our nursing students, and he was always there for me with my own research needs. We shared a love of dark chocolate, and sometimes we’d tell each other about a particularly good one we had tasted recently. To this day when I have a good taste of dark chocolate, I think to myself,”I need to let Locke know about this one.”
Locke, you’ve left us quite a legacy —- think of all the students and colleagues whose lives you’ve touched. I miss you.
With gratitude for you.
I love reading all these comments, and at the same time they make me miss Locke even more.
I really do miss him. It is hard to walk past his empty office, hard to look at the photos of him where he is so alive and so often smiling. Every time our Reference Department gathers now, it doesn’t feel quite right, because Locke isn’t there. I always think, “Locke should be here. Locke would want to be here.” Locke would love our laughter, our camaraderie, our plans for the coming semester.
My memories of Locke include:
His solid presence. He was always THERE. He was solid, he was dependable, he was real.
His sense of fun: Forwarding emails about wacky items he found on Yahoo news, ever ready to join in on anything fun. Hey, he and I were in a group that won a prize for group karaoke at the SLA conference in Seattle! And then there was that time that a group of us went to the Sing a Long Wizard of Oz!
His awareness: He knew what was going on with people, with the library world, with education. He knew what was right, what had integrity.
His encouragement: If he knew that you had done something good, you could pretty much expect an email from him that said: “Woo- hoo!:)” He also encouraged me to try things, and to have confidence in my ideas. I felt safe with him.
At Gleeson Library, I have been lucky enough to be in a situation where I am happy to come to work every day. Locke was a big part of that.
I was also honored to be able to participate in his care during his illness. What a treasure it was to sit with him while brushing his dear kitties, bring him a Starbucks mocha frappucino that I knew he’d really enjoy, or sing “Waterloo” with him, his sister, my wife and our good friend near the end when we visited him and gave him his own private concert. All of these memories are dear too, except for the fact that they happened because of his illness.
I am glad that I don’t have to mourn Locke alone, that there are so many of us who can share our love and our memories of Locke. As for Locke, I hope wherever he is, he is basking in love and in the good works he has done.
I have been trying to decide what to say about Locke in his honor, and reading all of the previous comments helped me to shape my words.
Many of the people who have contributed to this memorial have already mentioned some of his endearing and wonderful characteristics. I want to add my strong agreement with those descriptions and add one additional perspective. Beyond the work, beyond the funny emails and all of the assistance that he provided to me, my colleagues and especially my students, I always thought of Locke as my friend. It’s a rare person who can approach his work and his colleagues with the care and generosity and genuine goodness that makes each of us miss him in a very real, personal and loving way. I hope that I will try even harder to emulate this unique quality of his as a way to honor and remember his role in my life.
As a USF library user, the daily presence of Locke doing his “calling” at the reference room was a wholesome sense of ‘joy’. What a wonderful image of education in it’s working. The saying, someone in the right place at the right time seems appropriate. This will live on and find new takers. Thank you Locke
I met Locke at UC Irvine when I was working on my Ph.D. I was working at the Graduate student service division and remember him being very actively involved in various initiatives that dealt with helping students navigate through graduate research. Interestingly enough, we both got a job at USF the same year, 1997, but we didn’t know about it until I visited the library here at USF. It was just funny how we both looked puzzled the very first time we saw each other the USF library–it was one of those moments when for a split second you question your location, as I always saw him at the library in Irvine. He brought that commitment to service and passion for research to USF. The passion he displayed for his research and work was truly contagious. I recall having so many conversations at the gym (he was there every day at around 5:30 p.m. hitting the gym)where he would just bring in that excitement about the various projects he was working on. It was truly contagious. I was on leave at another institution and truly regret not being able to see him in the last couple of years–You will be missed Locke and rest in peace.
Locke was a wonderful human person and professional librarian. My students will miss him. I will miss him. He assisted us with our research and studies in a very kind and friendly manner. I can barely believe that I will now go to the reference desk and he will not be there. Locke, may the sun always shine on your face and bring you joy; may the wind continue to spread your spirit around us….
I have been totally overwhelmed with the kind words everyone has had for Locke, how much he was admired and loved. He made everyone who came to see him feel so welcome and how delighted he was to see them, whether it was Susan Yeh from England, Michael Morrisey from Texas or a fellow worker at USF.
I would drive him to doctor appts, spend days and nights with him as did his 2 sisters over his last 6 months. He never failed to say a thank you after every little thing I did for him. He watched All My Children with me (He introduced me to the program in 1975 saying his entire college dorm would arange their lunch hour to watch the show.) I watched Glee, football (Go UCLA and Wisconsin)and baseball (Go Giants) games with him.
Day after day we all told him how proud we were of him and how much we loved him. Shortly before December 14 he told one brother he “was ready” and another brother that he “believed in an after life” , as did his brother. He said he saw his father waiting for him holding his former cat.
As much as we miss Locke being here with us we can take comfort that he has gone ahead of us to show us the way and we will be with him again. Thank you all for sharing Locke’s life with him and your words with me.