1939 – 2009 (January 5)
George Robert Morgan was born on August 19, 1939, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the son of George W. Morgan and Mary G. Noonan. He had two brothers and four sisters. He was baptized on September 7, 1939 at Saint Raphael Church, West Medford, Mass, and attended Saint Mary Parish School, Winchester, Mass. from 1945 to 1953, and Matignon High School, Cambridge, Mass. from 1953 to 1957. He then enrolled in Merrimack College, North Andover, Mass., where he obtained a BS degree. He was received into the Order as a novice on September 9, 1961, and following the year at Good Counsel Novitiate, New Hamburg, NewYork, he professed simple vows on September 10, 1962. He spent a year at Villanova University, completing his course work in Philosophy, and in 1963 began theological studies at Augustinian College, Washington, DC. He professed solemn vows on September 10, 1965, and obtained his MA degree in 1967. He was ordained to the priesthood on November 19, 1966, at the Chapel of Christ the Teacher, Merrimack College, by Richard Cardinal Cushing, Archbishop of Boston.
Father Morgan was first assigned to Austin Preparatory School, Reading, Mass., where he taught from 1967 to 1969 and from 1970 to 1976. From 1969 to 1970 he had been assigned to Saint Joseph Friary as a teacher at Msgr. Bonner High School, Drexel Hill, Pa. In 1976 he was assigned to retreat ministry at Mount Augustine Retreat House, Staten Island, N.Y. for one year, and the following year served as associate pastor at Saint Augustine Parish, Tower Hill, Lawrence, Mass. From 1978 to 1981, he was assigned to Our Mother of Good Counsel Monastery and Merrimack College, North Andover, Mass., where he taught. In 1981 he spent a sabbatical year at Mundelein College, Chicago, Illinois. From 1982 to 1986 he was assigned to the Casa San Lorenzo, Miami, Florida, and taught at Biscayne College. In 1986 he returned to Massachusetts where he was assigned consecutively, as associate at Saint Augustine Parish, Andover, Mass., chaplain for Lawrence General Hospital, and as associate at Saint Augustine Parish, Lawrence. In 1996 he returned to Saint Augustine, Andover, and began to work for Merrimack College in Alumni Relations.
As Director of Campus Ministry at Merrimack College he expanded the liturgical life of the campus. As Director of Alumni he brought the Augustinian mission of care and compassion to the office and its programs. For thousands of Merrimack College’s alumni, Father Morgan embodied the college’s Catholic identity and Augustinian heritage. He worked for years with faculty to bring Catholic social teaching and moral theology into the curriculum and classroom. He was also an important part of the college’s musical heritage, from his long involvement with the Alumni Chorale, to his central role in the 1989 pilgrimage of the College Chorale to Rome and an audience with Pope John Paul II, to his constant support of good liturgical music at many college celebrations.
After a long and difficult illness with a brain tumor, Father George passed over to the Lord on January 5, 2009, at Holy Family Hospital, Methuen, MA. He was 69 years old.
