Morgan Joshua Woodruff

Morgan Joshua Woodruff, age 53, of Boston, Massachusetts, died in Boston of a malicious glioblastoma on March 2, 2024.

Morgan was born in Boston on November 18, 1970 to Glenn Woodruff and Susan B. Merry. Morgan grew up in Lincoln, Massachusetts in a house on Trapelo Road with a peace sign on the barn that his father painted during the Vietnam War. It survived spray paintings, shootings and was finally declared a historical landmark. The Woodruff family moved several times, living in Massachusetts, Illinois, and Minnesota.

Morgan's eventual transition into a modern day Renaissance Man started early, with his dad teaching him how to fix items around the house. His first job was at local Minnesota True Value hardware store which gave him hands-on experience in learning to fix anything and everything. Morgan also worked in a restaurant flipping burgers as a teenager and fell instantly in love with cooking. Tasks like cooking the perfect meal, changing out a light fixture, or putting in a garbage disposal always made him feel more accomplished than standard employment.

Morgan boarded at the New Hampton School in New Hampshire for high school, graduating in 1989, which he credits with getting him on the right path after guidance from his grandfather and father. In 1992 he graduated with a Bachelor of Politics and History and an English minor from Curry College in Milton, Massachusetts in two and a half years by taking summer classes.

Morgan moved to Chicago at the age of 21 for Richemont, a Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company for brands such as Cartier, Montblanc, and his favorite, Dunhill. He eventually took a move to New York City in his mid-20s, working at the Dunhill store at the corner of 57th & Park. Morgan was recruited to work for a VoIP start up (Global IP Solutions/GIPS) as Vice President of Sales, and he made his way back to Boston where he worked in Waltham (right near his beloved Costco) before the company was eventually purchased by Google.

Morgan was then recruited to a Scandinavian VoIP company called Owera, based in both Oslo, Norway and Boston, MA as the General Manager and Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, splitting time between the two cities, working to close deals between US telecom providers, resulting in an Owera acquisition by Pingtel in 2008.

A passion for technology and retail, and a love of connecting people led him to co-found Blueport Commerce in Boston's South End. He credits this time as one of the best of his life, enjoying the South End for both its growing tech/SaaS community as well as its dining scene and flourishing social life. It was at Blueport Commerce in 2012 he met his future wife Liz, resulting in a 2014 wedding "that was really just a big, baller party" at the now-shuttered Island Creek Oyster Bar on November 1, 2014, surrounded by family and friends. The wedding was capped off with a 2015 honeymoon to Paris and Venice, celebrating both Bastille Day and the Feast of the Redeemer, with winding walks around the cities and motorboat rides to Harry's Bar in Venice, home of the original bellini and dry martini.

Morgan was a passionate cook, always watching Jacques Pepin, Julia Child, Daniel Boulud and Anthony Bourdain, even taking cooking classes under Bobby Flay. He once left Jacques Pepin's book at the Le Galet beach club in Nice overnight and went down early the next morning to retrieve it, thrilled that the tattered paperback could still fly back to Boston with him. He spent his free time enjoying weekends on the Rye, NH seacoast with Liz and her mother, Joyce, and traveling to new locations and returning to old favorites including Bordeaux, Paris, Nice, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, London, Venice, Mexico, Ireland, Vail, and Miami. He was always chasing the sun, sand, and cocktails with a mischievous smile, a charming crinkle by the corner of his eyes, and a story for every occasion.

Morgan is survived by his wife, Liz, as well as his former wife, Cathy Moretti, his mother, Susan B. Merry and her husband George, his father Glenn Woodruff and his wife Phyllis, his sister Jocelyn Woodruff and her wife Heather, his sister Jennifer Baldwin and her husband Joseph, his brother Jack Merry, his sister Alyson Jarvis and her husband Greg, nieces and nephews, and many friends. Morgan's memory will live on in the hearts of all those who loved him, and our lives are richer for his presence, whether it was his all-encompassing warm hugs, the emotional support he offered, his endless generosity, his ability to make people laugh, his salad preparation skills, or whipping up freezing cold shaken cocktails for all he entertained.

Per Morgan's wishes, there will be no services. In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in memory of Morgan Woodruff to support glioblastoma (brain cancer) research and patient care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, P.O. Box 849168, Boston, MA 02284 or via jimmyfund.org/gift. Morgan would also request everyone raise a glass of beautiful champagne in his honor and enjoy life.

"It's been an adventure. We took some casualties over the years. Things got broken. Things got lost. But I wouldn't have missed it for the world." - Anthony Bourdain