After ongoing illnesses, on Friday evening, November 20, 2020, Edward Taylor Morgan, Jr. peacefully went home to be with the Lord while at Gilchrist Hospice Center in Columbia, Maryland. Edward Taylor Morgan. Jr. was born on December 2, 1937 in Griffin, GA to Sara Nelms Morgan and Edward Taylor Morgan, Sr. As a toddler, the Morgan Family relocated to Washington, D.C. where he was raised as the oldest of five siblings. At an early age, Ed and his brothers (John, Bill, and Reginald) and his sister (Sara Rebecca) were active in Sunday school and church youth programs. Ed accepted Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior at the age of ten and was baptized at Central Union Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., and remained an active church member through high school. He graduated from Spingarn H.S. in Washington, D.C; and after he graduated, he enlisted in the Army Reserve. (The word on the street was Bro. Ed liked jumping out of planes). He was eventually honorably discharged from the United States Army after serving in the 82nd Airborne Division in 1960. Ed eventually matriculated to Bowie State Teachers College where he met his future wife Doris Smith.
They were faithfully married for 55 years (today,12/2/2020, would have been there 56th wedding anniversary) and the proud parents of their daughter, Lee, and son, Kobie, and their beloved daughter-in-law, Melissa. After graduating from Bowie State College, Ed taught elementary education for 4 years in Prince George’s County Public School System, before entering the Federal Government as a Training and Education Public Health Advisor and retiring after 34 years as a Senior Level Public Health Advisor. After retiring from the U.S. Public Health Service, Ed was employed as a Senior Associate with McFarland & Associates a health management consulting firm in Silver Spring Maryland. While Lee and Kobie were toddlers, (against Sis. Doris’ will), Ed and Doris moved to Columbia, MD in 1972. Ed believed that living in a new planned city and community would be a good fit for the Morgan Family.
As Ed would frequently mention during “testimony time” and with family and friends, between 1960 and 1972, he drifted away from his relationship with Jesus Christ and church activities. However, after becoming parents, Ed and Doris (at her insistence) realized the importance of the family having a strong church and spiritual foundation. After visiting several churches, family friends highly recommended Mt. Pisgah AME Church, and after one visit in 1983, Ed and his family joined Mt. Pisgah A.M.E. Church on Route 108 in Columbia/Jones Town. In 1984, Senior Pastor Dana Swann appointed Ed as one of two ushers in the small one room church. Over time as the church and usher board grew, Pastor Swann appointed Ed as the 1st President of the Usher Board. After Pastor Swann was re-assigned, the pastors that succeeded him continued to appoint Ed as the Usher Board President. In 1993 Senior Pastor Donald L. Smedley was assigned to Mt. Pisgah, and appointed Ed to the Steward/Deacon Board as well as the Stewardship and Finance Committee where he served continuously, while also serving as the President of the Usher Board, until retiring in 2016. He had been quietly referred to as “President for Life” (aka Usher Board President Emeritus) and was awarded Man of the Year in 2017-2018.
Bro. Ed credits his journey from membership to discipleship to his friend, Senior Pastor, fraternity brother, and mentor, Pastor Donald L. Smedley. Providentially, Pastor Smedley eventually also mentored, licensed and ordained, Ed’s only son, Min. Kobie Blair Morgan. Through Pastor Smedley and other faithful ministers and teachers, Bro. Ed learned the power of prayer, the meaning of “For we walk by faith and not by sight”, and he also learned how to stand on the following scripture: Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” As the Steward-Deacon Emeritus, Bro. Ed and Sis. Doris continued to diligently support and serve Mt. Pisgah’s new Senior Pastor, Rev. Charlotte Jones-Michele Langston; occasionally teaching Bible Study classes for the Pastor.
Besides his immediate family, Bro. Ed is survived by his only sister Sara Rebecca and his Brother-in-Law Marty Tapscott, his youngest brother Reginald Morgan and sister-in-law Rolando, his two nephews David and “Tony”, great nephew Aaron Tapscott, and great nieces Amber and Taylor Tapscott and a host of beloved cousins from the Nelms, Morgan, and Taylor families scattered throughout the Northeast to Georgia to California. Bro. Ed (aka “Uncle Eddie”) was also truly loved by his in-laws: brother- and sister-in-law Charles & Kathleen Smith and his nieces Angie and Karen; sister-in-law Ruth Smith and niece Pamela, great niece Brittany and great nephew Brandon, his nephew Ronnie and great nieces Nalani and Imani and great nephew “Little Kobie” Allen; and his sister-in-law Sadie Smith, niece Stephanie, and great niece Bri-Anne, among many other beloved next of kin.
We will forever miss Bro. Ed, and will always remember his loving, warm, paternal spirit; his friendly, cool personality; his love for family, food, and fellowship; his heart for encouraging and mentorship; his love for sports (a die-hard Washington Redskins fan), and his sincere quest to have a good’ole time while servant-leading with integrity, loyalty, and excellence. Bro. Ed was one of a kind; a class-act who loved his wife with all his heart, celebrated his children with the utmost unconditional love and support, and always found time to serve others. Bro. Ed will be truly missed. However, we fully celebrate with heartfelt joy and a peace which surpasses all understanding his “home-going” transition to Heaven to fellowship eternally with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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