Lucius B. Morse III, a businessman who was a leader in parkland preservation, died Wednesday (Nov. 18, 2009) after suffering a heart attack at his home at Innsbrook Estates. He was 71.

Mr. Morse graduated from Washington University in 1960 and soon after traveled the country in an old Volkswagen to study various businesses.

"He wanted to learn how things were done at the very lowest level," said Mr. Morse's stepson, Steve Mahfood, of Hartsburg, Mo. "He eventually worked his way into the family business."

That business was LBM Enterprises. Mr. Morse served about 20 years as chairman and CEO of the company, which included Mid-America Printing, Boulevard Motors and the St. Louis Daily Record and St. Louis Countian legal newspapers. Mr. Morse sold the papers, which were founded by his grandfather around 1900, in 1986.

Mr. Morse's passion was preserving nature, and he was a founding member of the Missouri State Park Foundation and served as a longtime board member of the Missouri Botanical Garden, where he was involved in the founding of the Shaw Nature Reserve in Gray Summit.

In 2007, he sold the Morse family-owned Chimney Rock Park in western North Carolina to that state. It became part of a larger state park now known as Chimney Rock State Park.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 110 North Warson Road, Ladue.

Among the survivors, in addition to his stepson, are his wife, Bonnie J. Morse of Innsbrook; a son, Todd Morse of Lake Lure, N.C.; another stepson, Peter George of St. Louis; and four grandchildren.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Missouri Botanical Garden, P.O. Box 299, St. Louis, Mo. 63166; or to the Arthritis Foundation, P.O. Box 96280, Washington, D.C. 20077.