Morris continues Kopp hearing aid legacy 30 years later

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Published on Friday, 13 January 2012 15:00

Dale Denwalt
Daily Elk Citian

Thirty years after it opened, the Elk City Hearing Aid Center has a new owner.

Until a few months ago, Wayne Morris travelled nationally to train clinicians to become hearing aid specialists.

In 2010, he found out that Allen Kopp, owner of the Elk City Hearing Aid Center had passed away, leaving the business to his son, Brennan. The Oklahoma Hearing Aid Association called Morris with the news.

"They asked me if I would donate my time to help the son become licensed," he said.

Morris then called Brennan and at the end of that call, he offered to buy the business.

"It was really kind of on a whim. It wasn't a strategy, it wasn't thought through. In fact, after I said it I thought, 'Why'd you say that?' My wife'll kill me," said Morris.

BIG DECISION

At that time, Morris and his family lived in Tulsa. He had a good job. So did his wife. Their daughter still lived at home and was in school.

"It's a little bit scary leaving a solid paycheck from a well-founded company. I made a good living, they took care of me. It was comfortable," he said.

But the thought of owning a business wasn't far from his mind. Morris said that either "out of recreation or entertainment," he put together a business plan about five years ago. It was mostly for other business owners, though.

"I thought about it here and there and I guess I kind of had those dreams, but I didn't have much guts," he said. "It kind of took the prompting of this perfect storm. I wasn't looking to do this."

But they made the decision to take over the business. Morris arrived in December. His family is staying in Tulsa until the end of the school year.

PERSONAL MOTIVATION

During Morris' childhood, spending time with his grandfather helped shape how he looks at hearing loss now. He saw the man go from a very active man to a recluse who sat around watching the television with the volume as high as it would go.

"I remember like it was yesterday. Grandpa quit joining us at the dinner table, and he'd eat off a TV tray in the living room with the TV on full blast," said Morris. "We'd finally go in there to spend some time with him, and in five minute he'd be kicked back in the recliner and zoned out. Now I know: He couldn't hear us."

The time missed with the patriarch of the family could have been changed if they had used the technology available.

"I guarantee the family would have found $50,000 if that's what it took to find a way to get grandpa plugged back in, if they knew that's all it was," he said.

BACK WEST

Morris is living with his father in Rocky until the rest of his family moves here. He looks forward to working in the community and continuing the legacy of Allen Kopp.

"Everything I've heard about him and his family is wonderful. He's left an incredible legacy," said Morris.

Morris is taking customers for hearing aid fitting. He also has testing equipment that is called a hearing aid evaluation.

He relayed the experience of one customer that came in on Thursday - a 93-year-old woman who got the evaluation.

"All of a sudden she went from getting 40 percent of the words right to 100 percent of the words right," said Morris. "Her whole posture changed. It's like she blossomed. Those are the little things I live for."