David Morris sat behind a worn card table piled with papers, magazines and photo albums as he recalled exact years in his life.

In 1945, he received his aviation license.

Poultry was raised on his Grand Ledge farm until 1958.

And this year, at MSU's Ag Expo, Morris announced that more than $7.5 million from his estate would go into endowment funds for future MSU agricultural-based research upon his death.

"I can't take any of it with me," Morris said. "I feel privileged to give and help."

In Morris' home, he has a makeshift office on one side of his kitchen counter and shelves stacked with encyclopedias and National Geographic magazines. In the next room are paintings created by his mother and various awards of recognition.

The 78-year-old has been a farmer for nearly his entire life. Originally a 200-acre farm his father created in 1900, Morris' land has grown to about 1,800 acres of farm land in the Grand Ledge area.

Currently, the cattle lot and barns outside his home are empty. Morris said in addition to corn, wheat and soybean crops, he's raised all sorts of livestock, including poultry, sheep, pigs, cattle and horses.

"We had about everything at one time or another," he said.

After he married his late wife Betty in 1949, the couple lived 1.5 miles down the road from his father's farm. After 1956, he took over for his father and began to create the large expanse of farmland he now owns.

Although Morris has retired from farming, the land is still harvested by another farmer in the area.

Agricultural research done at MSU contributed to the growth of the Morris farm. He said nutrition and disease research helped him raise and sell beef cattle and cultivate corn, wheat and soybean crops.

"Research is a continual thing," he said. "Too many people don't recognize the importance of agriculture."

The planned gift to the College of Agricultural and Natural Resources will help fund more research in the area of agriculture.

After Morris' estate is settled and his land is sold, 55 percent of the money will be given to MSU and set aside into four endowment funds.

"A lot of people want to give, but don't have the assets to do so," Morris said. "It's taken a couple of years to put this together."

Jeff Armstrong, dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, said the endowment will benefit the college for years to come.

"David Morris is contributing now several thousand dollars a year to get the endowments started," he said. "He's been associated a long time with MSU Extension and Outreach."

The remaining 45 percent will be given to the United Methodist-based Clark Retirement Communities in Grand Rapids.

"If you run out of money, it doesn't matter," Morris said of the community. "They'll take care of you until you die."

The endowments are funds that will last forever, said Sue Woodard, director of External Relations and senior director of development for the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The original endowment amount stays intact and only the interest the money generates is spent.

"If the university has 10 percent interest and spends only 5 percent, the other 5 percent will go back to enhance the endowment," Woodard said. "This will be Dave Morris' legacy to MSU because these endowments will always be there."

Despite MSU receiving Morris' estate, his two adopted children, Patricia Raymond and Tom Morris, will also inherit his life savings.

Morris decided to give the estate funds to organizations and not to his children because of the inheritance tax.

"If the kids inherited the farm, there would be 5 to 6 million in inheritance tax," he said. "I have savings that will go to my children."

Giving the university four endowment funds was not a sudden decision, Woodard said.

"He's had a long-time relation with this college," she said. "He's farmed and raised livestock, and his wife was an alumnus."

Morris attended an agriculture technology program in the 1940s but never graduated from MSU. Betty Morris graduated from MSU in 1949 with a business degree.

"Betty graduated 3 o'clock that afternoon, and we were married 7 o'clock that night," David Morris said.

David Morris met his wife in 1946 when she traveled from the Lansing area to join an aviation club in Grand Ledge. Both Morris' had received piloting licenses in 1945.

Betty Morris passed away in 1998 of a brain aneurysm. David Morris said part of the reason for the endowments is because she went to MSU. The four endowments will be named after David Morris and his wife.

"I've been alone seven and a half years, which is not good, but so be it," he said. "We're all born to give, whether it's a handshake or a smile."

Three MSU presidents have gone to Grand Ledge for dinner at his home, David Morris said.

David Morris said he has lobbied for MSU funding in the past and does support the research done by the university.

"I felt it would do the most good for the most people," he said. "All things considered, I thought it would be a good way to go."