Obituary of Gary Lee Morgan

Gary Lee Morgan was born in Ponca City, OK on March 29, 1949, to Louise and Gherold Morgan.   He passed away on December 11, 2023, at Clarehouse in Tulsa, OK. He was preceded in death by both his parents.
 

He is survived by his wife Marsha Carson-Morgan, his sister, Robin Wise, his nieces, Chantee Brown Samantha Carnell, and his nephews Chad and Casey Wise, Clint and Matt Mitchell, and John Loffer.  In addition, He is also survived by 11 great nieces and great nephews. 

He loved and was loved.  His family was his treasure.

Gary grew up in Wagoner, OK and graduated President of his senior class of 1967.  He attended Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma with a degree in English Literature. He worked as the Executive Director of Waroma Services in Oklahoma for a short time.  He had several positions with various social services agencies and then went to work for The Department of Human Services as a case manager.  He later became an adult education specialist at The Hissom Memorial Center. When Hissom was closed, he went to work for East Central University as an adult education specialist. He specialized in training case managers, program coordinators, and direct care staff to work with individuals with developmental disabilities.  He also worked for Mallett Funeral Home in Wagoner.

Gary loved collies and one very special collie, Lexus.  She was the light of his life and he talked about her right up to the time that he was no longer responsive.  She was THAT SPECIAL.  She passed away in 2004.

Gary loved to handicap horse races.  He was actually a very good handicapper. He enjoyed going to the horse races even when he didn’t have money to bet.  In fact, he sometimes made pretend bets just for the fun of it.  He often went to Fair Medows Simulcast and was a winner of trips to Las Vegas in 2002 and 2007 along with other winners. 
 

He also enjoyed music and could recite the lyrics of almost any song from the 60s through the 90s.  He liked country and western music and the blues.  He preferred hymns as opposed to praise and worship music. He went to a Lutheran grade school and preferred a formal worship ceremony.  Communion was a precious time of worship for him.

Gary had a great sense of humor and loved making people laugh.  He was quick to make fun of himself and put everyone at ease.  He was at home with the “good ole boys” as well as the more sophisticated professionals.  Everyone liked Gary and was happy to see him.  He grew up with a heart defect which led to heart failure later in life.  As he got older, he went out less and did not have the energy to entertain everyone with jokes. He enjoyed life and loved God.

Gary worked because he needed to but work never defined who he was.  He was Gary Morgan, a child of God, and that was enough.