James Morgan's Obituary
James Leslie Morgan, Jr. Lifetime Memphian, beloved husband, father and grandfather, Les Morgan, died January 2, 2015, at age 89. He is preceded in death by his parents James Leslie Morgan, Sr., and Chloie Buckley Morgan and survived by his sister Billie Mills and brother Ed Morgan. He is also survived by his wife of 68 years, Doris Holt Morgan and 2 daughters, Judy Gray and Susan Bomar. Mr. Morgan is grandfather to James Dunn, Hope Frederick, Kimberly Sawatzky, Morgan Eckles and Abby Bomar. He has 6 great-grandchildren, Margo and Conner Frederick and Army, Aggie, Abe and Abby Lu Eckles. Mr. Morgan was a graduate of Central High School. He played football, basketball and baseball, and was on All-Memphis teams for football and basketball. Mr. Morgan was drafted and entered the United States Air Force as an eighteen year old high school senior. He entered officer training at Davidson College, but his class was called to service mid-training at which time he was sent to B29 flight crew training. Mr. Morgan flew thirty-one missions during WWII. He received the Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross designations. Following service in the Air Force, Mr. Morgan honored a high school scholarship to play football at Louisiana State University. He owned an auto parts business and in retirement enjoyed working at Campbell Clinic. He was a lifelong member of the United Methodist Church at Everett Memorial, St. Stephen and Germantown. He was a passionate golfer and a former president of the Memphis Golf Association and Windyke Country Club. Mr. Morgan was one of the first veterans to share his WWII stories in support of students enrolled in the Lausanne Collegiate School of Oral History Project. Les Morgan was sociable, humorous, charismatic, forgiving and forgiven. He is loved. He is with God. A service of remembrance is at Germantown United Methodist Church on Tuesday, January 6, 2015, with visitation at 10:00 am and worship at 11:00 am. In the place of flowers the family requests memorials are sent to Germantown United Methodist Church.Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery, 5668 Poplar Ave, Memphis TN 38119, “Behind the Stone Wall.”
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