Darrel Morf Receives the LCBA’s 2025 Citizenship Award
The Linn County Bar Association (LCBA) held its annual Gala on Thursday, Jan. 16. The Board of Governors sought nominations for the annual Citizenship Award and chose attorney Darrel Morf as this year's recipient. Recipients of this award must be active in civic organizations that provide services to others in the community, state and/or country. They should participate in activities designed to further the interests of the Iowa bar. They must also demonstrate strength of character and ability to motivate others to action to benefit the community, state and/or country and support, promote and go above and beyond to further the interest of others in the local community
For more than half a century, Darrel has been a pillar of our community as he provided guidance and counsel on estate planning to thousands of families and individuals in Linn County and beyond. Often, he made a multi-generational impact as the children or grandchildren of his clients also engaged him to help in their own estate planning. That’s a powerful testament to his talent and trusted guidance in helping people navigate the most challenging parts of estate planning — which is the emotions and family dynamics, not the tax and legal issues.
Darrel has paid forward his expertise in law and estate planning through his work as a professor at the University of Iowa College of Law for two decades. In fact, many members of the LCBA took Darrel’s classes, and have memories of the anecdotes and life lessons he shared alongside curricula about law and taxes. He has mentored countless attorneys over the years, giving them career advice and helping them become their best selves as professionals and human beings.
A decades-long member of the LCBA, Darrel formerly served as President of the LCBA and has volunteered on many committees and initiatives over the past 50 years. He is also a longtime member and/or has held leadership positions for the Iowa State Bar Association, the Iowa State Bar Foundation, the American Bar Association, and the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.
Darrel began his long career in 1969 when he graduated from the Iowa Law School and clerked for Judge Lay on the 8th Circuit Court. He joined Simmons Perrine in 1970 when it was a young firm with just a dozen employees in a small office in what was then the Merchants National Bank building in downtown Cedar Rapids.
Beahl Perrine was immediately impressed with Darrel’s knowledge and approach to estate planning, and he recommended Darrel to work on the estate of his brother-in-law, Howard Hall, who owned the historic Brucemore mansion that included pet lions and a menagerie of other animals. Darrel was delighted to place Brucemore and the surrounding acreage into a National Trust with a local endowment and board, paving the way for thousands of visitors and artists to enjoy the property for decades to come.
Darrel is a servant leader, peacemaker, and consensus builder — at SPMB, with clients and their often complex family dynamics, and with people in the community. He is an active listener who makes people feel heard and seen, and he is approachable and trustworthy.
Beyond his dedication to his profession, Darrel serves on numerous boards, nonprofits and civic organizations. He has served for many decades on the Boards of the Hall-Perrine Foundation, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library Association and other boards related to the Hoover family, and Mercy Medical Center and its philanthropic foundation. He has also served on the Boards of Brucemore, Methwick, and Foerstner Foundation. In 2018-19, Darrel co-chaired the United Way of East Central Iowa Campaign, a major annual fundraising campaign that supports the health and welfare of our local community.
He and his wife are major supporters of American Baptist Churches, and he has served on several boards for the church as well as its charitable arms such as the American Baptist Homes of the Midwest. Darrel is also a significant donor to the University of Iowa’s Iowa Law School Foundation (ILSF) and was a longtime member of its board, and he is a past Trustee of Cornell College in Mount Vernon.
Darrel is passionate about land conservation and keeping our planet healthy. For 25 years, he and his wife Middie have been restoring their property in Mount Vernon with native prairie plants, trees, and grasses that are habitats for pheasants, quail, and other wildlife. In 2019, their land was featured in the Parade of Prairies tour hosted by the Indian Creek Nature Center, and a few years ago they donated a conservation easement on their land to the Iowa National Heritage Foundation.
The entire team at Simmons Perrine Moyer Bergman is delighted to see Darrel’s lifetime of legal service, civic service, and leadership in Linn County be honored and recognized through the Citizenship Award from the LCBA.
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Simmons Perrine Moyer Bergman PLC is a full-service law firm with locations in Cedar Rapids and Coralville, Iowa. For more information, visit spmblaw.com.