John Edwin Morby

Dr. John Edwin Morby Resident of Hayward Dr. John Edwin Morby, 71, Professor Emeritus in History at California State University, East Bay, died of natural causes at his home in Hayward on September 3rd. Dr. Morby was born on March 19, 1939 to Dr. Edwin Morby and Elizabeth Priestley Morby in Berkeley, California. He graduated from Berkeley High School in 1957, received a BA in History from UC Berkeley in History, 1961, an MA in History from Harvard in 1963, and a PhD in History from UC Berkeley in 1971. Dr. Morby had been married twice, first to Natalie Forrest of Hayward in 1966, with whom he had a son, Christopher Seth Morby, who passed away in March, 2010 and in 2002 to Taryn Schlageter of San Leandro. Both marriages ended in divorce. Dr. Morby taught History at the University of Texas, and then at California State University, Hayward. His areas of expertise extended from Egyptology to French Baroque music, and he was an avid collector of classical music recordings. Dr. Morby was the author of Dynasties of the World: A Chronological and Genealogical Handbook, published by Oxford University Press. During his lifetime, Dr. Morby protested against the Vietnam War, actively opposed the death penalty, wrote countless letters on behalf of political prisoners, and donated consistently to animal rights organizations. A world traveler and student of many languages, Dr. Morby continued taking language courses until the final weeks of his life. A memorial service to honor Dr. Morby's memory and to celebrate the lives he touched will be held on Sunday, October 10, 2010 in the Exhibition Hall of the Castro Valley Center for the Arts at 2:00 p.m.