Robert Morrill was born in Chicago on December 1, 1896 and as a child moved with his family to Beloit where he attended school. He married Myrtle Morse on August 31, 1920, in Rockford, Illinois and they had two daughters, Roberta Lightfoot and Patricia Hill. Bob was the owner and operator of the R.T. Morrill Heating & Plumbing Company which he started in February 1920 at the age of 23. He learned the plumbing and heating business at the David Rankin Technical School in St. Louis, Missouri.

He was the president of the Wisconsin Master Plumbers and Contractors. His contract bidding took the Morrill Heating & Plumbing name to all parts of the Midwest. He served on the State Board of Examiners for plumbers for twenty years. He was also instrumental in the development of one set of manufacturing and fittings standards for the plumbing industry so that cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Los Angeles and Beloit have a uniform set of fittings standards.

Bob was also chairman of the committee to develop a textbook for the plumbing and pipe fitting industry. He attended as chief delegate for the United States, the International Labor meeting in Geneva, Switzerland in 1956. Bob was a navy veteran of World War I, serving on a mine sweeper along our Eastern coast. He was the first man to join the Kiwanis Club of Beloit immediately after the club was chartered in 1920. He received his 50 year Legion of Honor certificate from Kiwanis International in June of 1971.

Bob belonged to Morning Star Lodge #10, F & AM, the Beloit Elks club and the William J. Huempfner Post 76, Barracks 2564. He was a member and strong supporter of the Association of Commerce and a charter member of the Ambassador Club. He strongly advocated “what’s made in Beloit, makes Beloit”. After his retirement from business in 1962, Robert T. Morrill and his wife, Myrtle, spent the cold winter months in the warm sun of Arizona, Mexico and California, still maintaining their home in Beloit at 2246 Riverside Drive. Robert Morrill died on January 2, 1975 in San Gabriel, California. His body was returned to Beloit and after a memorial service at the Second Congregational Church, he was buried in Eastlawn Cemetery.