Afton
Nelson County, Virginia
By Tommy Stafford
Morris Foster was one of the first people we met as we moved into Nelson County just shy of two decades ago. By then he’d been a surveyor for years and people from all around knew him. I really got to know him as the years ticked by when we’d meet up during festivals at the old Wintergreen Winery. His daughter Tam was an owner at the time before it sold.. (that’s where Blue Toad is these days)
I saw Morris not terribly long ago during the last 6 months of 2022 at the post office in Nellysford. “I’m still here,” he laughed as he came through the door.” He was moving more slowly but he was still the same Morris Foster that most of us came to know over the years. He was very helpful in doing surveys for us along the way, as well as countless thousands of others during his career.
Morris’ had hair like a snowcap on a mountaintop. It was his signature trademark for lots, and his laugh and joke telling would have you in stitches. John Washburn, co-founder of Bold Rock Hard Cider and nearby neighbor told me in an email after learning of Morris’ passing, “We’d been friends for 35 years and we will all miss his unwavering fun, friendly and positive attitude. He performed over 50 surveys for me…. a good number ordered at lunch at Truslows.” Truslows was a popular breakfast and lunch spot in Nellysford back in the day. Giuseppes Pizza is located there today.
It’s the laugh I will miss the most. And Morris just knew how to tell a story like none other. His enthusiasm for life was contagious.
In the nearly 20 years I have lived here, it’s been hard watching people like Morris fade away into the sunset. They have been the institutions of Nelson for a long time. I always take comfort in having connection to folks like Morris because they can fill us in on so much of the past history. Paul Saunders is another great like Morris that we’ve lost in the past year. It’s hard to imagine Nelson without these icons.
Morris wouldn’t want us to fret. That I know. For sure. He’d want us to remember him and all of the good times. I will for sure. I’ll remember that laugh, the smile, those jokes and so much more.
God speed Morris, you were a good one. A very good one.
Here’s more info about Morris’ life and arrangements in his obit below.
