William J. Morgan

Dr. William J. Morgan, Jr. passed peacefully into the arms of the Lord on June 16, 2018 after a valiant ten year battle with Parkinson's and Lewey Body Dementia. Dr. Morgan (Bill) was born on September 17, 1924 in Boston, MA to William J. Morgan, Sr. and Mable (Cheney) Morgan. Bill joined the Navy at seventeen and upon completion of Boot Camp was stationed at the Naval Air Station in Deland, FL where he met Beatrice E. Streets. They were married August 30, 1943 and were to celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary in several months.

Bill served on LCI as a pharmacists mate and participated in the North African Campaign and the landing in Normandy. He was later transferred to the Pacific where he was in Tokyo at the end of the war. Later he served during the Korean War on the Hospital Ship Benevolence, which sank outside San Francisco Bay, and on the U.S.S. Missouri. He devoted twenty years to the Navy and the Nation, rising to the rank of Lt. Commander.

During his Navy career he earned a BS degree from Cornell University which was utilized as he supervised the food service at the Naval Hospital, Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, FL.

He retired from the Navy and began his educational career as an instructor in the Hospitality Division at the State University of New York Technical College, Delhi, NY. During his tenure at Delhi, he pursued a Master's Degree which he earned from the University of Albany in Albany, NY.

Bea and Bill began another adventure as they moved to Largo, FL. He taught at St. Petersburg College in their new Hospitality program. During his time at St. Petersburg College, he took a sabbatical to attend Cornell University where he received his PhD.

He later accepted a position at the Florida International University in Miami, FL. He has written several college text books, spent many years consulting in South American and Caribbean countries, and teaching at an International Institute in Switzerland.

He is survived by his loving wife, Beatrice; children, Virginia (Robert) Pearcy and Michael P. Morgan; five grandchildren, Mark (Michelle) Pearcy, Kenneth (Stephanie) Pearcy, Heather (Joel) Pancoast, Kara (James) Neer and Garrett J. Morgan; thirteen great-grandchildren; and three great-great-grandchildren.

A Memorial Mass will be conducted at St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church on Friday, June 22, 2018 at 11am. Interment will take place at a later date at Serenity Gardens Memorial Park.