Howard William Morgan Jr.

Dr. Howard W. Morgan peacefully left this world on June, 16, 2026 after a long illness. Born January 29, 1944 in Knoxville, TN to Howard and Virginia Morgan, his life and his impact is best characterized across four themes: a healer, a teacher, a scholar and a devoted family man. A standout high school athlete, Howard was recruited to play football at the United States Air Force Academy – graduating from the institution in 1966. Howard distinguished himself in the classroom at the Academy – to the point that he was a rare case where his military obligation was deferred at graduation so he could first receive his medical training. Graduating from the University of Tennessee Medical School in three years, and then receiving his neurosurgery training at the Semmes Murphey Clinic in Memphis, TN, Howard then served his country with distinction – eventually becoming Chief of Neurosurgery at the United States Air Force’s flagship medical center at Lackland AFB (where he attained the rank of lieutenant colonel at the very young age of 33).

Upon an honorable discharge from the Air Force, Howard spent 15 years in private practice in Lubbock, TX – healing countless patients from West Texas, Eastern New Mexico and beyond. The final 25 years of his medical career were spent at the UT Southwestern Medical Center, where he held the Trammell Crow Professorship in Neurosurgery. Besides treating patients at UT Southwestern, Howard loved being a teacher to countless aspiring neurosurgeons who were part of UT Southwestern’s neurosurgery residency program.

Howard’s medical career was notable. Decades ago, he was among the initial neurosurgeons who began utilizing a microscope to perform surgery – as he realized that this approach often provided a much more precise way for a surgeon to conduct an operation on the spinal cord or the brain. As part of his love for football, Howard was among the first group of neurosurgeons who were part of the National Football League’s Unaffiliated Neurotrauma Consultant program – conducting player concussion evaluations during Dallas Cowboys games at AT&T Stadium for several seasons. From a specialization standpoint, the first part of Howard’s career focused on all aspects of neurosurgery. Then in the second half of his career, he primarily focused on spinal matters – particularly spinal cord tumors.

One important part of Howard’s career was a specific time when he was able to give back to his country and provide essential care to its troops. Learning of a shortage of neurosurgeons in the military – and a particular need in early 2005 for a neurosurgeon to assist with care of wounded troops evacuated from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan - Howard volunteered his skills at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. He was later quoted in Stars and Stripes newspaper, commenting “It was a small thing I could do for the country…and the young people hurt over there.”

Howard was also always the scholar. His hobbies often focused on intellectual pursuits. A key interest of his was bioethics – where he lectured, wrote and served on various related national committees. He also had a particular interest in the intersection of medicine and law. In addition to his medical degree, he also earned two masters degrees in his “spare time” over the years – one in philosophy from Texas Tech University and another in healthcare management from The University of Texas at Dallas . He also was a voracious reader – across diverse subjects that included philosophy, physician-authored literature, life in rural America and also geopolitics. His favorite “non-scholarly” hobby was Alaskan helicopter fishing.

Although he had a distinguished professional career of healing and training many, Howard’s most enduring impact will be the impact that he had on his family. The rigors of his profession did not get in the way of Howard’s devotion to his family. “Family togetherness” was critically important for him. Memories included countless road trips driving the family across the West Texas roads en-route to Colorado. Whether it was soccer games, ballet recitals, cheerleading events, early morning school carpools, ice skating excursions, boy scout camping weekends, early morning one-on-one breakfasts, Air Force/Texas Tech games or even chaperoning a high school trip to Washington, DC, Howard made it a point to be there every step of the way as his children grew up. As a father, he had a unique way of supporting and instilling confidence in his children to follow the path that they wanted to take – and that they could accomplish whatever they sought out to do.

Howard’s memory lives deep in the hearts of his wife of 60 years, Teddy; children John (Catherine) of Inlet Beach, FL, Alexandra Mareiniss (Darren) of Philadelphia, PA and Katherine Breslin (Joseph) of Philadelphia, PA ; one brother Dr. Tom Morgan (Ellen) and two grandchildren, Martin and Asher Mareiniss. He also had a special place in his heart for his basset hounds over the years – Baxter, Odin, Baldr, Fafnir, Loki, Fenris, Oscar and Little One.

The family wishes to extend their deepest gratitude to Emmanuel Obi, Evelyn Carter, Gift Nwafor, Jay Adenaya and Virdine Randle for their unwavering kindness, compassion and support during Howard’s final months.

Funeral Service on Saturday, June 20, 2026 at 11AM at Sparkman Hillcrest Funeral Home; 7405 W. Northwest Hwy, Dallas, TX 75225. Visitation from 10AM until time of service. Burial to follow at Hillcrest Memorial Park, Dallas, TX. In Lieu of flowers, memorials preferred to donors choice.