James Michael Lee Morgan

1965 - 2024

James Michael Lee Morgan (Jim), a resident of Woodbridge, Virginia, passed away peacefully on July 7, 2024 after a hard-fought illness. Jim was born March 17, 1965, to Donna and James Morgan in Washington, D.C.

Jim attended Wooster High School in Wooster, Ohio where he graduated in 1983 at the top of his class and was a member of the swim team. He received an appointment to the United States Naval Academy (USNA), where he was a proud member of the class of 1987. Upon commissioning in May 1987 as an ensign in the United States Navy, for his first tour he served as a surface warfare officer aboard the USS Elrod (FFG-55). As an accomplished and value-centered leader, Jim was sought out for numerous nominative assignments to include his time as the personal aide to the undersecretary of the Navy. When he proudly returned on assignment to USNA to serve as an instructor, he also received his Master of Science in leadership and management from the University of Maryland University College. He later received an additional Master of Science in national security and resource strategy from the National Defense University (NDU). Jim retired from the Navy in 2017 having served as commanding officer of the USS Howard (DDG 83), commodore of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 7, and finally retiring at the rank of captain as the commander of the University of Florida Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) Unit. He was never happier than serving and leading sailors at sea over his 30-year career.

Jim was a Navy man first and foremost, but in his spare time, he loved to fly fish with his grandfather Michael Chomko, spend time at the family mountain home in the Poconos, and enjoyed skiing with his friends. He was a long-suffering fan of Cleveland sports teams and could often be seen pacing his living room yelling at the TV while watching his beloved Cleveland Browns, Indians, and Cavaliers. He was an avid and gifted cook who loved to share his meals with close friends and family. He was often found in the middle of the action in the kitchen telling and sharing "sea" stories about his time at the Naval Academy and of being "haze and gray and underway" in the Navy.

Jim is survived by his loving aunt, Helyne Chomko Brotz; and his dear friends, the Bradburn-McAlary family (Tara, Jim and Callie), who cared for him in his final days. He also leaves behind his sister, Anne Morgan Phythyon; his nephew, James Daniel Phythyon; his aunts, Priscilla Deese and Jeanette Morgan; and his cousins, Angie and Bynum Marshall, and Susan and Kevin Hughes. Jim will be fondly remembered and missed by his feline friends, Gabby and Kit Kat; and his Pocono buddies, George Slaier and Gene Williams.

He was preceded in death by his beloved parents, Donna and James Morgan; his favorite uncles, Michael Chomko Jr. and George Brotz. Jimmy was the descendant of the late Michael Chomko Sr., funeral director, who operated the Chomko Funeral Home on Railroad Avenue in the 1960s, and the great-grandson of Andrew Chomko, F.D, who established the funeral home in 1927 in the Bellevue section of Scranton.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers memorial donations in his name may be made to the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society online at http://www.nmcrs.org/donate or by sending a check to NMCRS, 875 N. Randolph St., Suite 225, Arlington, Virginia 22203 or to a favorite animal rescue.

Family and friends will be received Wednesday at St. Catherine's Cemetery Chapel, Covington Twp., Pennsylvania from 11 a.m. until the time of the blessing service, which will be held at noon. Interment with military honors will follow.

Local arrangements are being made by the Nicholas Chomko Funeral Home, 1132 Prospect Ave., South Scranton, Pennsylvania.