{"id":426847,"date":"2026-10-13T19:06:28","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T19:06:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/426847\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T19:06:28","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T19:06:28","slug":"ybor-city-street-renamed-in-honor-of-new-tampas-morris-lopezs-grandfather-neighborhood-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/426847\/","title":{"rendered":"Ybor City Street Renamed In Honor Of New Tampa\u2019s Morris Lopez\u2019s Grandfather \u2014 Neighborhood News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"TPD Officer Morris Lopez\u00a0<\/p>\n

Longtime New Tampa resident Morris Lopez III has spent 40 years building a career in public service, currently as a Division Chief with the Hillsborough County Fire Department.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While that service alone is noteworthy and admirable, the legacy of Morris\u2019 grandfather Morris \u2014 who \u201cwalked the beat\u201d as a Tampa Police Officer in Ybor City in the 1940s after serving in the Navy in World War II \u2014 is part of why Morris III chose to serve as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Morris I\u2019s service with TPD lasted only about two years, as he was shot and killed shielding and saving the life of a newspaper boy in 1949 during a drive-by shooting at 7th Ave. and 16th St. Eyewitnesses said that Ofc. Lopez was already falling to the ground when he pushed the paperboy out of the path of the gunfire. Long before the days of DNA evidence, the case remains unsolved and no suspects were ever identified, as the car sped away following the shooting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"(L.-r.) Cherish, Rodney, Stephanie, Stevie, Robbie & Morris Lopez\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Sept. 28, 77 years after that tragedy, Morris III and most of his family \u2014 including his wife Yvette, their daughter Courtney, Morris\u2019 brothers Robbie and Rodney and a host of aunts, uncles and cousins \u2014 were all on hand at a ceremony honoring Morris I with a sign renaming the corner of Centennial Park (along 19th St. and E. 8th Ave.) in Ybor City after the fallen hero: \u201cOffice Morris Lopez Av.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dist. 7 Tampa City Councilman & New Tampa resident Luis Viera, who pushed the city to honor Ofc. Lopez, said that Morris I was deserving of such an honor \u201cand should be remembered as one of Tampa\u2019s great heroes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Viera then introduced Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, who had a long career as a TPD Officer, including serving as TPD\u2019s Chief. Mayor Castor said, \u201cAll of us, as first responders, take an oath to protect and serve\u2026and law enforcement officers and firefighters across the country sacrifice their lives in the line of duty every single day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Mayor Jane Castor\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd, as a community\u2026we can never forget the impact those first responders, including Officer Lopez, had on their communities and on their families and friends.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

She also thanked Viera for making sure that there is \u201ca permanent reminder of Ofc. Lopez\u2019s sacrifice, so that people who drive by that sign can ask, \u2018Who was Officer Morris Lopez and what did he do?\u2019 And we should all be able to answer that question with pride.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Viera\u2019s fellow City Councilman Guido Maniscalco said, \u201cToday, we know that the name Morris Lopez will not be forgotten. I\u2019m so glad we were able to do this small token of appreciation for the [Lopez] family, so that his name will live on.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Next up was Cindy Roberts, whose husband, TPD Cpl. Mike Roberts, gave his all for the city back in 2009. Viera said, \u201cCindy does a lot of good work with an organization called \u2018Concerns of Police Survivors,\u2019 that advocates for surviving family members of officers that gave all in the line of duty.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Cindy Roberts<\/p>\n

\u201cI have the solemn honor of walking with the families of all of our lost officers as they go through their grief journey,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cBut today, as\u00a0we reveal this road dedication for Officer Morris Lopez, we assure that his sacrifice is met with an unending remembrance and community support.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then, Chief Morris Lopez III said that although he never met his grandfather, \u201cI heard the stories about him and the pride his name carried, and that made me want to [serve]\u2026and I have served this community for 40 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA street sign can not repay [our] loss. Nothing can. But, a city can say that a life of service mattered. He gave his life for this city and today, the city gives something back. For our family, seeing his name here in Ybor City, it connects our children and our grandchildren to the man whose life helped shape theirs. It tells them that courage, duty and service can travel across generations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that everyone who passes this street remembers more than a name. Remember the men and women who put on a uniform and accept responsibility for people they may never know. And remember the families they leave behind.\u201d \u2014 GN; all photos provided by Morris Lopez & Luis Viera\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TPD Officer Morris Lopez\u00a0 Longtime New Tampa resident Morris Lopez III has spent 40 years building a career…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":426848,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-426847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}