John Morgan Wright, 98, passed Sept. 1 in Burnet. Services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, in the Chapel of Clements-Wilcox Funeral Home in Burnet. Interment will follow at Post Mountain Cemetery in Burnet.
He was born March 3, 1924, in Burnet County, the fourth of seven children of Thomas Morgan Wright and Ella Clara McAllister Wright. His family first arrived in the Hill Country in 1858 near Smithwick. His longevity was outdone by a grandmother who lived to be 99 and an aunt who died at 105.
He attended high school in Llano where he was a member of the High School Marching Band. After he graduated from Llano High School in 1942, Morgan was set on seeing the world. He joined the Merchant Marines and see the world he did and all its wonders circumnavigating it three times. He recalled being in Bombay (now Mumbai) on Aug. 15, 1947, India’s Independence Day from Great Britain, also crossing the Equator, and piloting his ship through the Suez and Panama Canals. He enjoyed his maritime career and was pleased to do his part in helping the Allies to victory in World War II
When he returned to the Hill Country, Morgan went into the family business of water well drilling, operating Wright Water Wells in Burnet from the late 1940s until his retirement in 1992. His hands-on apprenticeship started at age 12 working for his dad’s business T.M. Wright Water Wells in Llano, providing water for families, ranches, and businesses. In the early 1960's, he purchased the Gardner-Denver 10R rotary drill rig, the first in Texas. By moving from the cable tool to the rotary tool process, he greatly increased the depth drilled in a day through the challenging Central Texas granite.
Former Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe was so impressed with Morgan, he wanted him to base his business at his ranch in Uvalde. He added Byron Boucher, his son-in-law, as a partner in the 1970s, when he averaged 75 wells per year. Morgan and his crew—which included life-long friends and family members—drilled municipal and commercial water systems from Killeen to San Antonio to Alpine and points in between. His last commercial job was Schlitterbahn New Braunfels. He was a member of the Central Texas Water Well Association.
He was a long-time devoted member of the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany.
Morgan enjoyed traveling, dancing, tall tales, and lunch at The Highlander with his wife, Mae, who he married in 1998.
He was preceded in death by his parents; wife Dayne Benson Wright; sisters Ruth Scott, Helen Smith, Laura Ellington Koonce, Grace Welborn, and Mary Carney Tarlton; and brother Jim Wright.
He is survived by his wife, Mae; stepson Eddy Dyer and wife Tami; stepdaughters, Lee Ann Reynolds, Sandra Lemire, and Dayne Janelle Marshall; his good friends Jim Luther and Linda Boucher and numerous nephews and nieces.
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