Dr. Virginia Richardson Morgan Obituary

Dr. Virginia Claire Morgan passed away on March 18, 2014, in Phoenix, Az. Dr. Morgan was born in Albany on September 4, 1930, and was the only child of Elizabeth and Newt Richardson. She graduated from Albany High School in 1947. Four of her Albany High School classmates perished in the Weincoff Hotel fire in Atlanta the December prior to her graduation. Dr. Morgan received her bachelor's degree from Wesleyan College in Macon. One of the highlights of her college career was working in theater production at Rabbit Run Theater in Ohio during the summer and getting to know Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn who were performing there. After graduation, she returned to Albany to begin her career with the Dougherty County School system. Her first assignment was teaching sixth grade at Broad Elementary. In 1959 she moved her family to a new subdivision near WALB-TV and started teaching sixth grade at Sherwood Elementary. She taught at Sherwood for five years, after which she was promoted to principal at Isabella Elementary in East Albany. She served in that position for three years and then was transferred to administration where she became the school system's first Title I director, a federal program that provides educational programs for socioeconomically disadvantaged children who need academic assistance. She served in that position until her retirement in 1995. She left Georgia and moved to Florida and then to Arizona so she could be closer to her daughter, Claire, and her family. While working for the school system, she still managed to obtain a master's degree from Auburn University and a doctorate from Florida State University. She was the first employee of the Dougherty County School System to receive a doctorate. She published several articles and treatises describing methods to teach children how to read and comprehend. One of her coauthors was Sir E. R. Braithwaite, author of To Sir With Love. Her most recent publication was The Educator in 2012, which she co-authored with her son. A strong and independent woman, Dr. Morgan was known for her compassionate and generous spirit and selfless acts of helping others. She adored her family and showered them with love and kindness. She is survived by her two children, Claire Jackoski, Phoenix, Az. and J.Tom Morgan, Decatur, Ga.; her son-in-law Keith and her daughter-in-law, Carol; and four grand-children: Matthew and Nickolaus Jackoski, and Caroline and John Morgan. Dr. Morgan's ashes will be buried next to her parents in Riverside Cemetery in Albany. There will be a memorial service at 3:00 p.m. at First United Methodist Church in Albany, May 24, 2014, to celebrate Dr. Morgan's life and her contributions to her community, her family, and the students she so passionately loved and cared for during her career as an educator in Albany.

Dr. Virginia Richardson Morgan Obituary

September 4, 1930 - March 18, 2014