One of our youngest Neumann Knights, Josh Morris, passed away on February 24th, 2008. He started at SJNA in the fall of 2006 as a pre-school student and was in his second year.

In January of 2008, the Morris family left temporarily for Lausanne, Switzerland. Josh’s father, a chemistry professor, had been invited to work as a visiting scientist for the spring semester at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne. Although it was sad to bid “bon voyage” to the Morrises, we were excited for their new adventure. While in Switzerland, Josh and his older sister, Claire, attended public school, where they were slowly learning French and making new friends. Josh and Claire kept in touch with their respective classes here through postcards, drawings, digital photos, and e-mail.

On the night of February 23rd, Josh suddenly became very ill. His symptoms were so severe that he was rushed by ambulance to the hospital. By the early morning of February 24th, Josh had died. The autopsy revealed that his cause of death was hypovolemia due to a volvulus (severe twist) of the small intestine. The volvulus had cut off his circulation entirely, which, within just a few hours, ended his life. Josh’s case was extremely rare and cannot be attributed to a specific cause. The Morris family returned to the U.S., and Josh’s Mass of the Resurrection was held on March 4th at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Blacksburg.

Josh truly loved his school and his school community loved him. The 2007-2008 yearbook is dedicated to Josh and his parents are honoring him through a memorial fund in his name. If you would like to contribute to this fund, checks can be made to "St. John Neumann Academy", with "Josh Morris Memorial Fund" on the memo line. Josh Morris' light will always shine brightly at St. John Neumann Academy.