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A Bartlesville icon in the arts and nonprofit work has died after a long battle with cancer.

Morris McCorvey, who is the former executive director of the Westside Community Center, community volunteer, actor and a well-known poet, died Friday. He was 73.

Born in inner-city Oklahoma City, McCorvey attended Friends University on a football scholarship, but it was his love of English literature that spurred him through his college career, exploring acting and poetry.

McCorvey first came to Bartlesville in 1980 as an artist-in-residence for the Oklahoma Arts Council to teach poetry at Jane Phillips Elementary School. In 1985, he founded the Dustbowl Players — an acting troupe for students.

Through his community engagement, he was named the executive director of the Westside Community Center in 2004. During his tenure, McCorvey established several programs, including after-school care, activities for senior citizens and other things that still go on today.

One program that McCorvey started was the “Work Ethics Prosper” program, also known as WE Prosper, which teaches teens the skills they need to become employed. WE Prosper continues today.

Once his tenure ended at the Westside Community Center, McCorvey continued his pursuit of amplifying the arts. In 2023, McCorvey recorded an album at Red Cat Recording Studio that combined the smoothing sounds of jazz, combined with the spoken word of poetry, entitled “Hoboetry.”

McCorvey leaves behind a large immediate family, and several extended “family members” whose lives will always be impacted by the quiet, solid leadership of Morris McCorvey.

Memorial services are pending, and will be announced once finalized.

Photo courtesy Open Mic Poetry Night