Obituary of William Howard Morgan

William Howard Morgan, 94, passed away at his home in Roanoke, Virginia Thursday, May 19. Family members and friends gathered around him as he passed on to be with his Lord in Heaven. He was known as” Bill” to most who knew him; to close family he was “Billy.” Bill was born in Jacksonville, Florida on September 14, 1921. His mother, Ethel Irene Morgan of Fairfield County, Connecticut, worked in hotels and dining rooms in the Jacksonville—St. Augustine area. Bill spent his childhood years there and in Atlanta, Georgia where his mother met and married William A. Breedlove who had family living in Blue Ridge, Virginia. That’s how Bill came to the Roanoke area where he made his life for most of his 94 years with the exception of short stints in Baltimore, Maryland, and Norton and Bluefield, Virginia. Bill was predeceased by his mother, his stepfather, and his brother, James Breedlove of Alexandria, Virginia. He is survived by his wife of 74 years Ruth Madeline Letchford Morgan; his daughters, Carol (Frank) Hart and Brenda (the late Walter George) Bandy, all of Salem, and his son Dennis Wayne Morgan of Staunton. His grandchildren are Tonya Hart of Salem; Angie (David) Keyser of Hot Springs, Paul Hart of Charlotte, North Carolina, Todd (Tracy) Bandy of Catawba, and Robin (Tim) Woolwine of Blue Ridge. His great-grandchildren are Mason, Kendall, and Mathew Keyser, Andrew and Ryleigh Woolwine, and Nathaniel Bandy. Bill also leaves behind much-loved in-laws: Edith Custer and Shirley Callahan of Blue Ridge, Dottie and Garland Dooley of Troutville and Forest Garner of Sanford, North Carolina. Bill, through his left-behind family, recognizes special people in his life. Amy Lynn Breedlove, his niece of Alexandria, Virginia, shared his love of genealogy. Amy was the catalyst to help him find his biological roots at 93. Bill and the family also thanks Bonnie Keller Allen of Jacksonville, Florida for her open and accepting heart in helping him in this years-long quest to find his DNA father. Jason Miles of Staunton has been a loyal and loved friend to the family for many years. This last year Bill’s lungs deteriorated, leaving him and his wife needing living assistance. Into that role stepped Joyce and Jim Feazell of Roanoke who became adopted family members. Joyce visited twice daily, bringing him foods he loved and his mail, giving him his medicine and lots of companionship. The last few weeks’ need for extra care brought him Jennifer Reed, a caregiver provided by the VA in Salem. She tended him lovingly and gently until his passing. Gentle Shepherd Hospice nurses brought comfort and care to him and his family during his last two weeks. Salem VA Medical Group provided him outstanding care. To Bill’s doctors, nurses, and medical assistants the family extends warm thanks. A few are primary physician, Dr .Gregory Jamison, Susan Williams, and Dr. Mark Jones. Reverend Doctor Glenn Stevens of Moneta was a special spiritual mentor and good friend. Bill was baptized in the Church of the Brethren as a young man and was a member of the Blue Ridge Church of the Brethren most of his life. Glenn, a pastor there until lately, led the family in prayer and singing of “Amazing Grace” as the family joined hands around Bill’s bed Thursday morning. In Bill’s final days, at Bill’s and his wife’s request, Glenn and Gentle Shepherd Hospice chaplain Reverend Brian Whited anointed both Bill and Ruth as family members observed. When Bill came to Blue Ridge as a teen in 1936, he lived with Nunnie and Lester Holdren, the grandparents of Ruth Letchford. Ruth and Bill married in Salem, May 25, 1942. They were a few days shy of their 74th anniversary when Bill passed. Ruth, now 90, was the love and light of his life. Two weeks ago the doorbell rang at Friendship Manor—the FedEx delivery man handed her a small box containing a diamond necklace from Bill. He told her, “I got you this, because next year is our 75th anniversary, our diamond anniversary, and I know I won’t be here.” He leaves her knowing she was well-loved. 1942 was also the year he was drafted to serve his country in World War II. As a member of the Army-Air Corps, 8th Air Force, 306th Bomb Group stationed in Thurleigh, England, he flew 32 bombing missions over Germany in a B-17. He was navigator and top turret gunner who survived a harrowing air fight over Berlin when his plane was struck repeatedly by German warplanes. Through grit and determination, he, his pilot and co-pilot brought the plane down just short of the water on the coast of England. After D-Day, Tech Sergeant Morgan, wearing his Distinguished Flying Cross and other medals, came home to his wife who met him at the train station in Roanoke. In the states he served out his enlistment as an instructor for those who followed him to war and served in the Army Reserves for ten years. Bill went on to have a career in heavy construction equipment business. He worked as a mechanic at Blue Ridge Stone in the early 1950s, then for Nash Euclid in Salem and Norton in the 1960s. The company became L.B. Smith and he moved to Baltimore, Maryland where he rose to become manager, serving the company in Baltimore, and Norton and Bluefield, Virginia. He ended this career when he was 70 and that is when he took on a second one—woodworking. He is known in the Roanoke area for his skill blending art and craft while creating miniature pie safes. He created one each month, with no two alike. The waiting list was long and he didn’t complete the list before his constricted lungs forced him to stop. Bill honed his furniture building skills in his workshop, a historic log cabin he reconstructed at his former home on Read Mountain Road. Many people will also remember Hollins Antiques, a business that he and Ruth operated for several years. Whatever Bill tackled, he did so with passion and seriousness. This was reflected in his work with the Boy Scouts when the family lived in Norton from 1958-1963. For Order of the Arrow ceremonies, a man who never sewed anything, created a Native American leather outfit, complete with beads, moccasins, and feather headdress. He was an avid reader who, as a young boy, sat in a corner of downtown Atlanta’s library and read book after book. He made his children an iron swing set, and his wife a decorative wrought iron table and chairs. His summer gardens bulged with vegetables, his landscaping designs were works of art—he built anything and everything his mind thought of. When he needed a tool that didn’t exist, he made it. Ruth says she has seen him break something to make it work. He made toys for his grandchildren—dollhouses for the granddaughters and carved cars for the grandsons. Over the years he restored cars, collected coins, refinished furniture, wrote letters to the editor, and researched and punched tins for his pie safes. His collection of original antique replica furniture blueprints and pie safe tin patterns is sought after by those who were inspired by his work. Then in his 70s he discovered the computer. This technology and the Roanoke Times filled his days in the last few years when his lungs began to fail. He said, “When I get so I can’t do anything, give me my computer and the Roanoke Times and I’ll be happy.” Three days before his death, he read the newspaper and worked the crossword puzzle. Just before that he went online to order Ruth the diamond necklace. Daily he worked on Ancestry.com creating his family tree. At his death he had five computers and said he regretted that he wouldn’t live long enough to learn how to use new technology. A second regret was his not knowing what his great-grandchildren’s futures hold. Todd Bandy writes of Bill’s legacy, “My grandfather had a brilliant mind and creative soul. He was the artistic source in our family and passed it on to many of us in some form. He was and will remain an inspiration to me. Every project and every painting I do have a little bit of him in it.” A memorial service to honor Bill Morgan will be held at 2 o’clock Sunday, May 22, 2016, in the chapel of Resident Center at Friendship Retirement Center on Hershberger Road in Roanoke. Reverends Glenn Stevens and Brian Whited will officiate the ceremony. Following the ceremony, guests will enjoy refreshments in the center’s restaurant. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made in Bill’s memory to Blue Ridge Church of the Brethren; P.O, Box 506; Blue Ridge, VA 24064 or to Gentle Shepherd Hospice; 6045 Peters Creek Road; Roanoke, VA 24019. Arrangements by Simpson Funeral Home. (540)366-0707.