Although Nancy Morris evacuated Key West with her pregnant daughter and granddaughter, and many of her friends and neighbors, her husband John remained behind to ride out hurricane Wilma—anticipating that it would miss the southern-most tip of Florida as hurricanes had so many times in the past.

 But, October 24, 2005 was to be different.  When John awoke to the sound of the family’s dog sloshing through water in his bedroom, he knew it was going to be bad.  Their home was soon flooded with 34 inches of salt water.  Furniture, photographs, cars, motorcycle were all destroyed by the flooding.  Over two hundred automobiles were lost at the automobile dealership he managed.  In just a matter of hours, John and Nancy had not only lost most of their possessions and seen their house ruined, but John had also lost his livelihood.

 Having decided to escape hurricane-prone Florida, the couple evaluated a variety of new career opportunities in both Western North Carolina and East Tennessee.

“A good friend, Larry Hill, who owns an auto dealership in Cleveland, Tennessee told us about a Ford dealership which was available in Lenoir City,” said John.  “Along with Larry, we carefully evaluated the opportunity and soon after formed a partnership, purchasing the dealership on July 31, 2006.”

 

“We’re excited about living here and for the tremendous potential that Lenoir City and East Tennessee represent to both us and our 35 associates at John Morris Ford-Mercury.  This is not only our home now, but it’s also where we have decided to retire in the future.  We’ve already purchased a parcel of land to build our ‘dream’ home on.”

 “We look forward to becoming active in our new community and look forward to meeting all of our new neighbors.  We would like to personally extend an invitation to all of the readers of East Tennessee’s Mountain Views to stop by John Morris Ford-Mercury in Lenoir City to become acquainted.”

 John Morris Ford-Mercury is located at 775 Highway 321 North in Lenoir City.

Phone: 865-988-0003.