In memory of LTC Henry "Hank" Morgan
The funeral service for LTC Henry G. Morgan Jr (R) was held at St. James' Episcopal Church on May 20, 2017. Burial will be at Arlington National Cemetery at a date to be determined.
On May 6, 2017, LTC Henry G. Morgan Jr (R), died peacefully in Fairfax County, Virginia, surrounded by family following a brief illness. Born in Dallas, Texas, in 1920, LTC Morgan (Hank) was six days short of his 97th birthday. As a child during the Great Depression, Hank’s family moved around quite a bit, living in Texas, Oklahoma, and Alabama.
One of his earliest passions was the Army, which resulted in his enlisting in the Texas Army National guard at age 17 while still a student at North Dallas High School. Following graduation from high school Hank became a fulltime soldier in the National Guard while seeking an appointment to the Unites States Military Academy at West Point. He received that appointment in 1940 and graduated from West Point in June 1943, as a 2LT of Infantry. With the nation at war Hank was sent to Camp Rucker to train soldiers from the 35th Infantry Division. The Division came ashore at Normandy the first week in July 1944. Hank fought relentlessly against the German enemy, but his combat experience ended abruptly when he was severely wounded in the final moments of the Battle of the Bulge, January 1945. He spent the next three months in a hospital in England recovering from his wounds. The rest of Hank’s 23 years on active duty were spent in various commands and locations. While serving in war-torn Berlin Hank met his beautiful bride to be, Evelyn Higgins, an America government employee working for the Office of Alien Property. They were married a few months shy of 70 years.
Hank’s love of history made his second career an easy choice: high school history teacher. For 16 years the classrooms of T.C. Williams and George Washington were filled with “living history” lessons from a man who had “seen this and done that.” He was often spotted driving yellow school buses in the summertime filled with students headed for Williamsburg or Jamestown for an extended field trip. And his involvement in things historical was not limited to high school students. Hank was an active member and leader in the Alexandria Historical Society. He was often requested to re-enact reading the Declaration of Independence on the front steps of the National Archive Building. And he and Evelyn regularly danced with the colonial cotillion in period attire.
Hank was also a dedicated servant of the Lord. Whether a member of the St. James’ Church congregation, the Vestry, the choir, or a volunteer for any of countless volunteer efforts, nearly every Sunday for the past 52 years, the St. James’ congregation has felt Hank’s presence and leadership.
Surviving Hank are his wife Evelyn, three sons, David and wife Jan, Peter and wife Suzy, and Michael and wife Valerie, daughter Janet, eight grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, and a host of other extended family.
Gifts in gratitude for Hank’s life may be made to
St. James’ Episcopal Church
5614 Old Mill Rd., Alexandria VA 22309
or
West Point Association of Graduates
698 Mills Road, West Point NY 10996
