John Hamilton "Bud" Morgan Jr. a great ambassador who gave out 2
submitted by: H. Roice Nelson, Jr.
John Hamilton Bud Morgan Jr |
JOHN HAMILTON "BUD" MORGAN JR.
TRIBUTE BY DILWORTH STRASSER
We are saddened by the passing of a great ambassador who introduced hundreds of people to the SUP over the past 20 years. John H. Morgan Jr. was a member of the Salt Lake Chapter. John's pioneer ancestors were a lot of his reason to give back through education. John's grandfather started the first college in Salt Lake City to educate our pioneer ancestors in the mid 1800’s. More than 20 years ago, John became a scholarship chairman for the Salt Lake chapter of SUP giving out 2 scholarships - which became 4 the next year and adding more and more each year. Over those 20 remaining years, he gave out 2,727 scholarships and visited high schools throughout Davis and Salt Lake county.
The scholarship started out at $500 and eventually increased to $1500 for each student. He visited each school and personally interviewed each student. On the application the student needed to write a paragraph on the 8 pioneer values: my faith in God, my devotion to family, my loyalty to church and country, my hard work, my service to others, my courage, my personal integrity, my determination to succeed, my adversity that I have overcome. He encouraged the scholarship councilor at each school to choose students in need. Many of the students would be the first member of their family who had a chance to go to college. John loved SUP, his ancestors, and giving out scholarships to kids who could further their education. What a wonderful example he set for us and our chapters.
In 1979, he built the St. George Hilton Inn—the first hotel in the city—which his first wife Daisy managed for 14 years.
In trying to figure out how to attract more visitors and ensure the hotel's success, he realized that St. George residents were interested in sports and the city attracted retired people, and the idea of a senior sporting event was born. He and Daisy, along with friends Royce and Jill Jones and Sylvia Wunderli, used the Baton Rougebased National Senior Games Association as a model for the St. George games. With a goal of encouraging good health and physical fitness for seniors, the games, originally called the World Senior Olympics, were first held in 1987 as part of a community development plan for St. George. In 1989, Utah philanthropist Jon M. Huntsman, Sr., became the principal sponsor, and the name was changed to the Huntsman World Senior Games.
The event has become the second-largest senior games in the world, behind the National Senior Olympics, and gives 10,000 men and women ages 55 and older the opportunity to compete in 27 athletic events over a two-week period. Serious athletes from Japan to Russia
and from Alaska to Australia come to participate. John himself competed in the tennis event for more than 25 years. In 2013 he won two silver medals and one bronze, just missed winning a gold. He also received the Personal Best Award from the National Senior Games Association.
JOHN MORGAN OBITUARY
John Hamilton Morgan, Jr. (Bud)
1923~ 2022
John Hamilton Morgan, Jr. (Bud) left his physical body on Friday January 14, 2022, surrounded by loved ones and in serenity and peace in his home-away-from-home in St. George, Utah.
John was ushered into the world on October 11, 1923, as the second child of four children and only son to Lucille Parkinson Lloyd and John Hamilton Morgan, Sr. in Salt Lake City, Utah. He and his three sisters enjoyed a lifelong pact of fierce loyalty and love. "Brother" was their joy and their relationships have sustained them for close to a century. John was an irreverent but devoted member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and had many fond memories of The Garden Park Ward where he found comfort and friendship as a youth. The teachings of the Gospel provided him with great comfort during the last years of his life.
In 1935 at the age of 12, on a sunny Saturday afternoon, John won the Salt Lake Marble Tournament. It was a small victory, but to John, it was an important victory and helped in chiseling a character filled with hope, joy, enthusiasm, optimism, tenacity, fearlessness, and a belief that that if you worked hard enough anything is possible. It also spurred a joy of athletic competition which included a lifelong devotion to tennis.
In 1943 along with many of those of "The Greatest Generation", he served two years in the 44th Infantry Division in Europe. His mission was to supply ammunition and food to frontline soldiers. In 1945 he was furloughed and was given orders to report to the Pacific Command in two weeks. While he was home, the war ended abruptly and in disbelief he entered a new chapter in his life.
After the war, John returned to Salt Lake City and in 1950 completed a degree in Political Science. It was on the campus of The University of Utah where he met the love of his life, Daisy Richter. She was the ONE from the moment he laid eyes on her. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on June 12, 1950. Hope and unlimited possibilities filled their dreams. They marched proudly into a modern industrialized nation and did their part to create the baby-boom generation by bringing four bright eyed youngsters into the world in rapid succession.
In 1951 John joined forces with his father, John H. Morgan, Sr., and Clarence Justheim. As pioneers of the Oil and Gas Industry they organized the Uintah Wyoming Oil and Gas Company. They proudly called themselves ""The Three Musketeers"". It soon became clear that young John was the creative force behind their collaboration and had an exciting vision for the future, especially for Southern Utah. In 1967 Uintah Wyoming Oil and Gas merged into Utah Resources International and in collaboration with Morgan Gas and Oil, Justheim Petroleum Company and Wyoming Petroleum Corporation, they acquired 906 acres in St. George, Utah. With John's vision, unique entrepreneurial ability, and capacity to promote, the desert began to bloom in the late 1970s. With the building of the St. George Hilton (now The Desert Garden Inn), the Southgate Golf Course and other commercial and residential real estate developments, John helped to put St. George on the map. He remained actively involved in realizing this vision for the next 15 years and until recently, John served as Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of Morgan Gas & Oil Company since 1982.
His creative imagination did not end with real estate and oil and gas development. In 1987 along with his wife Daisy Morgan and friends Sylvia Wunderli and Royce Jones, they launched the World Senior Olympics later to become the Huntsman World Senior Games. The first year, the games were almost cancelled because of lack of participants, but all were determined to make a go of it. Over the next 35 years annual participation has ballooned to over 11,200 participants from around the world. There have been over 83 participating countries and in 2021 it is estimated that the economic impact on St. George and surrounding areas was close to 20.4 million dollars.
In 1981, J. Michael Bennion came to work for all the companies and brought much needed organization and professional skills. Mike became a member of the ""Morgan family"" and has supported John in his long career of service. ""Service Beyond Self"" was a great motivator throughout his life.
The long list of organizations and entities that benefited from John's ability to raise funds and bring much needed support to the Arts, Government and Service organizations were numerous. He served on the board of the Utah State Department of Business & Economic Development, was Co-Chair of the University of Utah Ballet Scholarship Program, served on the Board of Governors of the Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, the boards of Intermountain Healthcare, KUED and Project 2000. John was a member of the Salt Lake Rotary Club, the Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Alta Club and was a member of the National Advisory Council of Dixie College in St. George, Utah. As a lover of music and the performing arts John served on the Board of Directors of the Utah Symphony, was President of the Maestro Club and served as on the Board of Directors of Ballet West where, at the age of sixteen, his daughter, Victoria, began her professional dancing career.
For twenty-four years John served on the Scholarship Program for The Sons of the Utah Pioneers. He travelled the Wasatch Front daily promoting the program working with the high school counselors. However, John thought it was important to move beyond the high school counselors. To the amazement of many he made it a point, well into his 90's, to interview and motivate each student receiving a scholarship. With the help of Wayne P. Webster, Jr. and Kathy Loveless the program has 2,727 scholarships over the years helping high school seniors, many who had overcome difficult obstacles in their lives, attend the university of their choosing.
After losing his beloved wife, Daisy to the complications of Alzheimer's disease, he married for the second time, Wilma Clayton in 2002. They loved to play tennis together and he embraced her family as his own. He received great joy from her children and grandchildren. However, in 2017 they decided to part ways.
In the years that followed John continued on his journey to support the underdog, create new vision for the companies and to embrace life with hope and love. His generosity, warmth, kindness wit and wisdom will leave a huge vacuum to all that shared time with him.
John was preceded in death by his wife, Daisy R. Morgan 2001, his son John H. Morgan III, 1978, his daughter Patricia Morgan 2001 and his sister Dawn Delvie 2016. He is survived by his sisters Helen Leech and Erma Todt, his daughters, Victoria Morgan, Anne (Roy) Jespersen. Step-grandchildren Soren B. (Kristen) Jespersen, Maren (Shane) Earn and John Paul Jespersen. He has 4 cherished step great-grandchildren and devoted and loving pets Niko and Cami.
There were many dear souls that helped Dad negotiate his life through his 90s including but not limited to Rebecca Bennion, Rosa Robles, Gloria Ozuna Perez and a special thank you to Alisa Harris and her beautiful family for their companionship and love over the last 2 years. The family would also like to thank Encompass Hospice for their care and professionalism during the last week of his care.
Living 98 years is an achievement on its own so with John's motto and encouraging words, ""Carry On, Carry On Carry On""!
A funeral celebration will be held at 11:00am on Monday January 24th, 2022 at the Federal Heights Ward, 1300 Fairfax Road, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84103, where friends and family may visit from 9:30am to 10:30am prior to the services. Interment: Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park. On line memories and tributes can be posted to the family at www.holbrookmortuary.com
Live stream of the funeral will take place on the Holbrook Mortuary web site on the John Morgan Obituary page. To watch the live stream scroll to the bottom of the John Morgan obituary page and you will see a TV screen. The pre funeral broadcast will start about 10:30.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The American Free Enterprise Foundation, c/o Kathy Loveless, 198 E. Ensign Vista Dr., Salt Lake City, UT 84103 for a scholarship in John's name for High School Students.
Bud Morgan SUP Trail Marker, February 2009, Volume 18 Number 2