COM prof. remembered as mentor, friend

College of Communication professor Peter Morrissey died Friday after a yearlong battle with brain cancer.

Thomas Fiedler, dean of COM, said the thing Morrissey loved doing most was teaching.

“He always took such satisfaction and pride when students would drop him a note and tell him there was a particular [exercise] from his class that really helped them,” Fiedler said.

Morrissey received a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations from Boston University and completed the Owner/President Management Program at Harvard University, according to his LinkedIn account.

Morrissey was faculty advisor to the PR Lab, COM’s student-run public relations firm, as well as an associate professor in public relations and had taught at BU for five years. He served on the Board of Governors at the Boston Athletic Association, which organizes the Boston Marathon each year.

In Feburary 1999, Morrissey founded Morrissey & Company in efforts to create a firm that uses public relations as a strategic business advantage, according to his company website.

Don Martelli, an employee at Morrissey & Company, said in an email that he considered Morrissey a mentor.

“He was always telling stories and jokes. Most of the time, he’d share a story that was relevant to a business or personal situation,” Martelli said. “You never knew where the hell he was going with it, but a few minutes after you’ve sat on it, the point slapped you in the forehead.”

Desiree Passaro, a recent COM alumna who took corporate communications with Morrissey in the Spring 2012 semester before he left for medical leave, said she remembers him as welcoming and helpful.

“He was always in a great mood and I could tell he loved teaching,” Passaro said. “He helped me with everything from class work to internship searches and even gave me a very helpful recommendation letter.”

She said her fondest memories were when he would tell stories about driving a Zamboni or when he was interviewed by ESPN after the Tiger Woods scandal.

Ksenia Lanin, who graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences in 2011 and minored in public relations, had Morrissey as an advisor while she did two semesters of PR Lab. She said was saddened that she would never be able to thank him for his class.

“In these past two years since leaving his class, I constantly find myself realizing how true to life his lessons really were,” Lanin said in an email. “The news of his death caught me really off guard this weekend because I realized just how important his class has been to my life.”

A Memorial Mass is planned for September at Saint Ignatius of Loyola Church in Newton. The date and time are to be announced.

Fiedler said while Morrissey had been diagnosed with brain cancer  more than a year ago, he was always positive. When they last spoke about three weeks before Morrissey died, Morrissey was still holding out hope.

“I don’t think there was ever a time when he wasn’t still optimistic,” Fiedler said.