Richard Irving "Dick" Morgan

1927 - 2017

Richard Irving "Dick" Morgan, 89, passed away at his home in Kenai on Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017.

Per his wishes, there will be a private ceremony. His ashes will join those of his wife, Shirley, and son, Donnie, atop Mount Redoubt.

Dick was born to Floyd and Juanda Morgan in Longmont, Colorado on December 29, 1927. He was the second oldest of five siblings. In 1945 immediately after graduating from Longmont High School he joined the Army. He served one-year active duty at Fort Bliss in Texas. His year of inactive duty was spent in college at North Dakota State College.

After a couple of years, including a short stint at the shipyards in southern California, he was the only one of five Army buddies to actually make the trip to Alaska. In March 1949, he waited in Seattle for a few days for the "charter flight" to fill and then flew into Anchorage.

Dick worked for the Corp of Engineers out of Elmendorf in Anchorage. After a couple of years, he ended up in Kenai as a construction inspector at Wildwood Army Base.

In 1951, he went back to Colorado and brought home his future wife, Shirley, and her son, Donnie. The "three of them" were married the day after arriving in Anchorage. They came to Kenai the next day and never left. They livedon the edge of town on Birch Drive in "North Kenai."

Dick was instrumental in the formation of the City of Kenai and the writing of the city charter. He served on the first elected city council in 1960.

In 1971, he bought Luke's Welding Supplies and Steel. It became Morgan Steel, which is still located on the Kenai Spur Highway. In 1975, he, Max Swearingen and Pat O'Connell bought the Peninsula Clarion. They quickly changed it from a weekly to a daily newspaper. In 1990, it was sold to Morris Communications. As a test of the strength of his marriage to Shirley he decided, in 1985, to build the Kenai Golf Course. After a couple of years, there were 18 holes on leased city land. Current owner Gordon Griffin bought it in 2006.

"He deeply loved his wife of 63 years, his family, his community, his country. He died knowing that he had lived afull and virtuous life," his family said.

He is survived by his younger brother Charles Morgan of Bellvue Colorado; his sons Shane Morgan and his wife Joy, and Wade Morgan and his wife Martha Lucia; daughter-in¬ law, Carol Morgan; and grandchildren Julie, Steve and Nicole.
He was preceded in death by his wife Shirley (nee Lingo), and eldest son Donald Morgan.
Condolences can be sent to P.O. Box 1101, Kenai, Alaska 99611.

Arrangements were by Peninsula Memorial Chapel in Kenai.