Written and spoken by Mrs. Kaci Morgan
Below at her Grandfather’s funeral (Ford's Dad); William Morgan Sr. November 3, 2014,
Advance, Missouri.
The
week before Grandpa died, we were talking and he starting telling me a few
things about how he wanted his funeral done.
He said not to go overboard with the obit, start the funeral on time and
try not to get into an argument with my Dad right before the funeral starts (we
have a tendency to do that). Then he
said, “Maybe it would be nice if you said a few words.” And we all know when he told you to do something;
you did it and didn’t ask any questions.
The last couple of weeks I have
thought about how lucky I am. I’m lucky
because I got to be Big Bill Morgan’s granddaughter.
For the last 18 years, I walked into
my job and from April to October, my Grandpa was there. He had taught my Dad the business well and I
was blessed to be taught by both my Grandpa and my Dad. Many people don’t get to experience being
taught your trade that way. He was proud
of the way my Dad ran the family business.
He once told me my Dad was the best embalmer he had ever seen. He wasn’t so proud of him when he lost cemetery
lots in a card game but honored the lots because he understood not walking away
from a good card game.
When he would leave in the fall to go
to his home in Florida, he would always say “If I don’t make it back from
Florida put me in whatever casket isn’t selling.” When he returned in the
spring I would always say, “Thank God you made it back, we still haven’t sold
that pink casket.”
The talks we had were priceless. His life reads like an interesting history
book about the Greatest Generation. I loved
hearing his stories about when he was a kid, which always involved his brother,
Jack and baby sister, Patricia. Jack was
his best friend and Patricia, he loved more than words. He told me after he graduated from Advance
High School at 16 years old, he wanted to go to medical school and be a doctor
like old Doc Masters, but his father told him NO, he had a family business to
carry on.
After his time serving in the Army in
WWII he went to St. Louis School of Mortuary Science. He returned home and ran the funeral home
until 1979, when my Dad took over. He
once told Leeman, he conducted his first funeral by himself when he was 14 or
15 years old.
He told me stories about seeing the
Rat Pack and Elvis perform in Vegas, meeting Harry Truman, running the local ambulance
service (that his sons often helped him with) and all of the babies he
delivered when they couldn’t make it to the hospital.
He enjoyed a good drink, preferable
bourbon and a chew. He was an excellent
hunter and fisherman. In the summers he
would take his boys to Norfork Lake on vacation. And he loved to read.
He always had a way with words. When he told you something you better listen
because he was only going to tell you once.
A few days after my mother died he
told me he understood because his mother had died when he was 5. He said the world can be cruel and unfair but
I could not be angry or mad the rest of my life. That I was a Morgan and we were tough. Then we loaded up in the old blue Ford and he
took me to buy scratch off lottery tickets because that’s what we were into at
that time…. I was 11.
When Lane was born, Joan said my Dad
called Grandpa and told him he was never going to believe that Lane looked just
like them. Grandpa showed up at the
hospital, looked him over and told me I had done well. I’m pretty sure it was
because he looked like a Morgan and it didn’t hurt that I had named him
William.
He would come to the park and watch my
boys play baseball. He loved being there
but not just to watch my boys but to see all the people in the community,
always greeting them with a handshake, like the gentleman he was. He helped organize and start Little League
baseball in Advance. I think it made him
proud to see that program still thriving. Every year he asked me how many kids
signed up to play.
He believed in giving back to his
community. Because in his words, “This
is the community that feeds us.”
He loved Advance High School
basketball. He told me countless stories
about his sons’ games. But he also said
some of the best games were played on the goal at his house. That some nights those boys would play all
night long. But that didn’t bother him
because that way he always knew where his boys were. He also talked about trips he made to watch
Benny play at Austin Peay and my Dad at Three Rivers. In the last few years he was still watching
Advance games on the laptop at his home in Florida.
This past spring I was stressed and
worrying about where Lane was going to play his college ball. Grandpa told me it didn’t matter where he was
bouncing that ball just as long as he got a college degree. He was very proud that all of his children
and grandchildren were college educated.
He said the key to success starts with being educated. He was proud of the lives his kids and
grandkids had made for themselves.
He was so proud when Tiffany got
married. He had the best time at her
wedding. And looked dapper as ever in his tux as he walked her down the aisle. He said his little girl was beautiful and had
his blue eyes. He was proud when Walker
was born as well as the twins, Margaret Morgan and Kathryn Harper (named after
his mother).
One day I came back to the funeral
home after lunch. It was summer
break. My boys had decided to play
baseball in my living room. They had
broken the ceiling fan and the wood blinds.
I WAS FURIOUS! Grandpa laughed and said, that was nothing. That when my Dad was little he had wrapped
Ford in a blanket and thrown him through a glass door at their house. Grandpa replaced the door. My Dad again wrapped Ford in a blanket and
threw him through the newly replaced glass door. Two doors in one week.
He said when his boys were little he
really didn’t have to worry about Benny, he didn’t get into too much trouble
but little Bill and Barry Ford he had to keep an eye on.
Grandpa
loved the St. Louis Cardinals. He told
me about taking his boys to Old Sportsman Stadium with Jack and Salty. He went with Dad and me to take Lane to his
first game when he was one. We got to
see Mark McGuire hit home runs #63 and 64 at night. In the 9th inning he said we had
to go to beat the traffic and get out of the park before my Dad tried to buy it
for Lane. I had a satellite put in the
office several years ago just so we could watch afternoon Card games together.
He was happy when Benny moved home to
Missouri because that also meant he got to see Travis more. And he loved Christina.
The week before he died, I told him I
had to go to Jack’s parent/teacher conferences and that I would be back when
they were over. I got back to the house
told him that Jack’s grades were pretty good, but I was worried he was getting
by on his charm with some of his teachers.
Grandpa laughed and laughed and said he knew another Jack with charm like
that. He said it was alright because we
could always use charm like that shaking hands at the front door.
He enjoyed his winters in Florida with
Nana Joy by his side. The winters also
meant he got to spend time with Ford, Aly and AA and JK and Leaa and their
kids. And that made him happy.
He was proud when Nikki went to Mizzou
and made the cheerleading squad. And he enjoyed getting to see Morgan and
Regan.
He loved Joy so much. They were married for 43 years. She took care of him in every way. Her wonderful meals she cooked him and her
calm, loving, caring demeanor. He loved
Debbie, Donna, Michael and Candy and their kids as his own, there was never any
step involved. He enjoyed his time spent
with them. Candy said he made their
lives better. I’m sure that is true but
it is also true that they made his life better.
He had a special place in his heart
for his nieces and nephews and Jan.
He
loved the town of Advance and the town loved him. I couldn’t even tell you how many people have
called or stopped me in town the last couple of months wanting to know how he
was. They would all tell me a story of
how he had helped their family in some way or simply what a good man he was.
He liked being called Big Bill, but
more than anything he liked when Joy called him “honey”, or he was called Pop,
Grandpa or Big Pop.
He lived his life on his terms and has
left a great legacy behind.
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