William Howard Morris began his funeral directing career in Bellbrook, Ohio in 1886. The Morris Funeral Home was incorporated in 1890. William and his wife, Lillie ( Austin) had owned a boarding house for carpetbaggers, and saw a need in the area for a reputable funeral home. The first location after Bellbrook was in the small town of Alpha, and then they moved to downtown Xenia for a short while. They later moved to Old Osborn, which has since become Fairborn.

William and Lillie had five sons, Austin, Warren, Art, John and James E. and one daughter, Katherine. All five sons were active in establishing a highly reputable and respected family business. William opened the Dayton location on East Third Street in 1905, and his grandson James R. Morris (Bob) built the Kettering location on E. Dorothy Lane, in 1974. In 1986 a 3,500 square foot, handicap accessible addition, with beautiful furnishings and stained glass windows to complement the existing Victorian home, was added to the Fairborn funeral home. Many renovations and updates have been made to each location, the most recent being a new addition to the Kettering funeral home. The whole front of the building was bumped out and a pitched roof was added to the entire building. The new addition has a ceiling height of about 23 feet. This added space has allowed us to incorporate a beautiful fireplace, additional sofas and side chairs, and large windows to allow natural light to filter the entire building, giving it a warm and homey atmosphere.