In remembering the life of our dear father, husband, and friend Paul Morgan, we welcome your memories and stories. Please share text, images or audio recording in an email to Daniel, Paul’s son: themorgantown@gmail.com
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On Sunday afternoon, March 1st, we said our goodbyes to Paul Morgan. He is loved and missed by his wife, Dana, his two children Katie and Daniel, his nieces Julia and Elaine, his cousin Lynell, and his extended family scattered across California, Colorado, and the East Coast.Paul was born in Sharon, PA, on January 4th, 1940, and grew up in Denver, CO, where the family relocated in 1943. He enjoyed an active and adventurous youth, exploring the mountains and lakes of Colorado with his beloved older siblings Bruce and Marian.He fondly remembered summers at Grand Lake, learning to sail and waterski, and learning to climb at The Flatirons near Boulder and going on to climb several “fourteeners,”—peaks over 14,000’—around Denver including a favorite, Longs Peak, which he climbed a handful of timesHis mom, Ruthie, introduced him to winter skiing at Winter Park and by the time he was in high school, he was teaching beginners; he later taught Daniel to ski in California. He was a Boy Scout and was awarded Eagle Scout rank in 1954, like his older brother, Bruce, before him.Thanks to the G.I. Bill, Paul attended Harvard University as a proud resident of Elliott House and physics major, graduating in 1961. It was while at Harvard that Paul discovered filmmaking, writing and directing the experimental 16mm film Three Giant Steps, among others. He joined the Navy in 1962, where he served on destroyers in the US Navy’s Atlantic Fleet as Lieutenant and travelled the Mediterranean and Caribbean.
After the Navy, Paul moved to New York City where he worked as a director and writer for commercials and television. In 1969, while employed by the production company Motion Associates, he travelled to Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines to make a series of films for the Foster Parent’s Plan (now Plan International), a humanitarian organization founded to provide aid to children whose lives had been disrupted by war. He worked on the syndicated show The Racers (about competitive motorsports) and COMEBACK (stories of significant setbacks and recoveries, hosted by actor James Whitmore). He was particularly proud of his work writing and producing the PBS series The American Short Story—a series of dramatizations of well-respected short stories by American authors—hosted and introduced by Henry Fonda.
During his East coast “bachelor” years, he kept an apartment in New York City, a yacht (Anthony Rowley) in Annapolis, and, starting in 1970, a heavily-wooded 40 acres in Dutchess County, NY, where he cultivated gardens (blueberry, apples, world-famous carved pumpkins), planted trees (blue spruce, black walnut), and (over the course of many years) designed and built a cozy family “cabin” which was to become the site of numerous beautiful summer holidays for his family.
Paul and Dana met and married in the early ‘80s and Katie came along soon after, in 1983. Daniel followed in 1985, just in time to join the family in their new home in the suburban LA neighborhood of Westchester. After 15 years as a freelancer, and with two young children, Paul decided it was time to secure steady employment and was hired by defense and aerospace company TRW (later Northrop Grumman) where he was a producer and writer in the Media Center from 1985 until his retirement in 2010. His career in film spanned 16mm through to the advent (and eventual dominance) of digital cinematography; he embraced every technological advancement with verve and excitement. Paul’s faith and family were central to his life, and he was dedicated to the Christian Science Church and community. Over the years, he was a First Reader for a few different stretches of time, including the final year of his life. An accomplished pianist, he occasionally accompanied the singing of hymns at the church and played frequently at the house, encouraging Katie and Daniel to take up lessons.Following retirement, he found immense pleasure and satisfaction in his volunteer work recording books on tape for people with vision impairment and learning disabilities with the organization Learning Ally where he accumulated over 5,000 service hours reading everything from children's fantasy books to a biography of Winston Churchill.Other hobbies that he took up with characteristic passion included beekeeping, baking, and wheat and fruit tree cultivation. He was a beloved community member and will be fondly remembered by friends at Los Angeles Bread Bakers and the Holy Nativity Episcopal Church. It was there in 2015 that he envisioned and, with a skilled team, designed and built a large wood-fired cob bread oven—the Westchester Community Oven—serving as its first Firemaster. The bread oven was the site of many delicious community gatherings and Paul would be thrilled that his work and dedication lives on in a site of gathering and fellowship and good food.
He will be remembered for his deep devotion as a father and husband, his enduring loyalty to his friends and family, and his brilliant and curious mind. His dad jokes are unparalleled and we will all miss his irreverent, witty, and warm sense of humor.In Paul’s memory, we invite you to donate to the following charities which he supported throughout his life:Learning Ally40th Church of Christ, Scientist, Los Angeles (here is the link for direct Christian Science Mother Church donations)Broadview Christian Science Nursing Wounded WarriorsWith love and gratitude,The Morgan Family - Dana, Katie, and Daniel
Paul Morgan
1940-2020
On Sunday afternoon, March 1st, we said our goodbyes to Paul Morgan. He is loved and missed by his wife, Dana, his two children Katie and Daniel, his nieces Julia and Elaine, his cousin Lynell, and his extended family scattered across California, Colorado, and the East Coast.Paul was born in Sharon, PA, on January 4th, 1940, and grew up in Denver, CO, where the family relocated in 1943. He enjoyed an active and adventurous youth, exploring the mountains and lakes of Colorado with his beloved older siblings Bruce and Marian.He fondly remembered summers at Grand Lake, learning to sail and waterski, and learning to climb at The Flatirons near Boulder and going on to climb several “fourteeners,”—peaks over 14,000’—around Denver including a favorite, Longs Peak, which he climbed a handful of timesHis mom, Ruthie, introduced him to winter skiing at Winter Park and by the time he was in high school, he was teaching beginners; he later taught Daniel to ski in California. He was a Boy Scout and was awarded Eagle Scout rank in 1954, like his older brother, Bruce, before him.Thanks to the G.I. Bill, Paul attended Harvard University as a proud resident of Elliott House and physics major, graduating in 1961. It was while at Harvard that Paul discovered filmmaking, writing and directing the experimental 16mm film Three Giant Steps, among others. He joined the Navy in 1962, where he served on destroyers in the US Navy’s Atlantic Fleet as Lieutenant and travelled the Mediterranean and Caribbean.
After the Navy, Paul moved to New York City where he worked as a director and writer for commercials and television. In 1969, while employed by the production company Motion Associates, he travelled to Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines to make a series of films for the Foster Parent’s Plan (now Plan International), a humanitarian organization founded to provide aid to children whose lives had been disrupted by war. He worked on the syndicated show The Racers (about competitive motorsports) and COMEBACK (stories of significant setbacks and recoveries, hosted by actor James Whitmore). He was particularly proud of his work writing and producing the PBS series The American Short Story—a series of dramatizations of well-respected short stories by American authors—hosted and introduced by Henry Fonda.
During his East coast “bachelor” years, he kept an apartment in New York City, a yacht (Anthony Rowley) in Annapolis, and, starting in 1970, a heavily-wooded 40 acres in Dutchess County, NY, where he cultivated gardens (blueberry, apples, world-famous carved pumpkins), planted trees (blue spruce, black walnut), and (over the course of many years) designed and built a cozy family “cabin” which was to become the site of numerous beautiful summer holidays for his family.
Paul and Dana met and married in the early ‘80s and Katie came along soon after, in 1983. Daniel followed in 1985, just in time to join the family in their new home in the suburban LA neighborhood of Westchester. After 15 years as a freelancer, and with two young children, Paul decided it was time to secure steady employment and was hired by defense and aerospace company TRW (later Northrop Grumman) where he was a producer and writer in the Media Center from 1985 until his retirement in 2010. His career in film spanned 16mm through to the advent (and eventual dominance) of digital cinematography; he embraced every technological advancement with verve and excitement. Paul’s faith and family were central to his life, and he was dedicated to the Christian Science Church and community. Over the years, he was a First Reader for a few different stretches of time, including the final year of his life. An accomplished pianist, he occasionally accompanied the singing of hymns at the church and played frequently at the house, encouraging Katie and Daniel to take up lessons.Following retirement, he found immense pleasure and satisfaction in his volunteer work recording books on tape for people with vision impairment and learning disabilities with the organization Learning Ally where he accumulated over 5,000 service hours reading everything from children's fantasy books to a biography of Winston Churchill.Other hobbies that he took up with characteristic passion included beekeeping, baking, and wheat and fruit tree cultivation. He was a beloved community member and will be fondly remembered by friends at Los Angeles Bread Bakers and the Holy Nativity Episcopal Church. It was there in 2015 that he envisioned and, with a skilled team, designed and built a large wood-fired cob bread oven—the Westchester Community Oven—serving as its first Firemaster. The bread oven was the site of many delicious community gatherings and Paul would be thrilled that his work and dedication lives on in a site of gathering and fellowship and good food.
He will be remembered for his deep devotion as a father and husband, his enduring loyalty to his friends and family, and his brilliant and curious mind. His dad jokes are unparalleled and we will all miss his irreverent, witty, and warm sense of humor.In Paul’s memory, we invite you to donate to the following charities which he supported throughout his life:Learning Ally40th Church of Christ, Scientist, Los Angeles (here is the link for direct Christian Science Mother Church donations)Broadview Christian Science Nursing Wounded WarriorsWith love and gratitude,The Morgan Family - Dana, Katie, and DanielOn Sunday afternoon, March 1st, we said our goodbyes to Paul Morgan. He is loved and missed by his wife, Dana, his two children Katie and Daniel, his nieces Julia and Elaine, his cousin Lynell, and his extended family scattered across California, Colorado, and the East Coast.Paul was born in Sharon, PA, on January 4th, 1940, and grew up in Denver, CO, where the family relocated in 1943. He enjoyed an active and adventurous youth, exploring the mountains and lakes of Colorado with his beloved older siblings Bruce and Marian.He fondly remembered summers at Grand Lake, learning to sail and waterski, and learning to climb at The Flatirons near Boulder and going on to climb several “fourteeners,”—peaks over 14,000’—around Denver including a favorite, Longs Peak, which he climbed a handful of timesHis mom, Ruthie, introduced him to winter skiing at Winter Park and by the time he was in high school, he was teaching beginners; he later taught Daniel to ski in California. He was a Boy Scout and was awarded Eagle Scout rank in 1954, like his older brother, Bruce, before him.Thanks to the G.I. Bill, Paul attended Harvard University as a proud resident of Elliott House and physics major, graduating in 1961. It was while at Harvard that Paul discovered filmmaking, writing and directing the experimental 16mm film Three Giant Steps, among others. He joined the Navy in 1962, where he served on destroyers in the US Navy’s Atlantic Fleet as Lieutenant and travelled the Mediterranean and Caribbean.
After the Navy, Paul moved to New York City where he worked as a director and writer for commercials and television. In 1969, while employed by the production company Motion Associates, he travelled to Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines to make a series of films for the Foster Parent’s Plan (now Plan International), a humanitarian organization founded to provide aid to children whose lives had been disrupted by war. He worked on the syndicated show The Racers (about competitive motorsports) and COMEBACK (stories of significant setbacks and recoveries, hosted by actor James Whitmore). He was particularly proud of his work writing and producing the PBS series The American Short Story—a series of dramatizations of well-respected short stories by American authors—hosted and introduced by Henry Fonda.
During his East coast “bachelor” years, he kept an apartment in New York City, a yacht (Anthony Rowley) in Annapolis, and, starting in 1970, a heavily-wooded 40 acres in Dutchess County, NY, where he cultivated gardens (blueberry, apples, world-famous carved pumpkins), planted trees (blue spruce, black walnut), and (over the course of many years) designed and built a cozy family “cabin” which was to become the site of numerous beautiful summer holidays for his family.
Paul and Dana met and married in the early ‘80s and Katie came along soon after, in 1983. Daniel followed in 1985, just in time to join the family in their new home in the suburban LA neighborhood of Westchester. After 15 years as a freelancer, and with two young children, Paul decided it was time to secure steady employment and was hired by defense and aerospace company TRW (later Northrop Grumman) where he was a producer and writer in the Media Center from 1985 until his retirement in 2010. His career in film spanned 16mm through to the advent (and eventual dominance) of digital cinematography; he embraced every technological advancement with verve and excitement. Paul’s faith and family were central to his life, and he was dedicated to the Christian Science Church and community. Over the years, he was a First Reader for a few different stretches of time, including the final year of his life. An accomplished pianist, he occasionally accompanied the singing of hymns at the church and played frequently at the house, encouraging Katie and Daniel to take up lessons.Following retirement, he found immense pleasure and satisfaction in his volunteer work recording books on tape for people with vision impairment and learning disabilities with the organization Learning Ally where he accumulated over 5,000 service hours reading everything from children's fantasy books to a biography of Winston Churchill.Other hobbies that he took up with characteristic passion included beekeeping, baking, and wheat and fruit tree cultivation. He was a beloved community member and will be fondly remembered by friends at Los Angeles Bread Bakers and the Holy Nativity Episcopal Church. It was there in 2015 that he envisioned and, with a skilled team, designed and built a large wood-fired cob bread oven—the Westchester Community Oven—serving as its first Firemaster. The bread oven was the site of many delicious community gatherings and Paul would be thrilled that his work and dedication lives on in a site of gathering and fellowship and good food.
He will be remembered for his deep devotion as a father and husband, his enduring loyalty to his friends and family, and his brilliant and curious mind. His dad jokes are unparalleled and we will all miss his irreverent, witty, and warm sense of humor.In Paul’s memory, we invite you to donate to the following charities which he supported throughout his life:Learning Ally40th Church of Christ, Scientist, Los Angeles (here is the link for direct Christian Science Mother Church donations)Broadview Christian Science Nursing Wounded WarriorsWith love and gratitude,The Morgan Family - Dana, Katie, and Daniel
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