Doreen Elizabeth Morgan’s 76-year tenure in our world left it a better place.
Born in 1948, Doreen Elizabeth Long was one of four daughters in an Air Force family, with postings across the United States and overseas. One of her family’s early postings was in Paris, France, where Doreen became a skilled equestrian, fluent in French, and highly independent for her young age. A gifted student, Doreen was committed to excellence in any subject she studied. Following high school near Washington, DC, Doreen attended Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA. In 1971, she received her bachelor’s degree in mathematics, with distinction. While she was at it, Doreen also completed all the requirements for degrees in economics and German.
In August 1970, Doreen married fellow Virginia Tech graduate Carl Morgan. With the Vietnam war in progress, Carl became an Air Force pilot, setting the couple on the move. Following a year in Arizona, the two of them arrived at McChord AFB, south of Tacoma, WA, and began a love of the Pacific Northwest. Doreen and Carl both welcomed unusual challenges. They bought a cheap but literally crooked old Victorian house in Steilacoom. Doreen found herself crawling prone under the house with a flashlight tied to her head, sawing off support pilings per her calculations to level the structure. It was an early example of the “Just go for it!” lifestyle that characterized the couple for a lifetime.
Doreen made a home and friends in the small town of Steilacoom. Besides becoming an avid gardener and remodeler, Doreen was appointed by the mayor to become Police Judge Pro Tem for the town. It was not unusual to see smiling police officers visiting Doreen in her garden, where she would review and sign warrants.
In 1976 the couple moved to northern Virginia, where Doreen joined the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to serve as an economic analyst. Her work was important, challenging, and involving. Nevertheless, within a couple of years she and Carl came to miss life in the Northwest. True to their lifestyle, they simply quit their jobs, sold everything too expensive to move and headed west in a pickup truck, confident that they would figure out what to do once they arrived in Seattle.
Doreen and Carl bought another “fixer” house in downtown Seattle, their third by that point, and Doreen found work as a management sciences analyst at Bank of America. Doreen ambitiously enrolled at the University of Puget Sound in downtown Seattle, attending classes into late evenings after work. In 1983, Doreen received her Master of Business Administration degree, and the bank promoted her to Assistant Vice President.
Doreen gave birth to son Justin Morgan in 1984, followed by daughter Alexis Morgan in 1987. Seeking a healthful environment in which to raise their children, in 1989 Doreen and Carl built a house in five acres of woods on Bainbridge Island.
As her children began to enter school, Doreen became fascinated with the Montessori method of education and became a parent volunteer at a local Montessori school. For several summers Doreen attended training at the Center for Montessori Teacher Education in New York and interned on Bainbridge Island during the school year, ultimately gaining her teaching certification.
In 1995, Doreen proudly became a founding member of Voyager Montessori Elementary School. She diligently guided Voyager’s Senior Elementary classes until her retirement in 2010. Doreen found her true vocation as a Montessori teacher. She discovered that she had a gift for teaching and bloomed colorfully into the role. Doreen developed her own way of demanding excellence that made her students eager to find it within themselves.
Over the years, Doreen sometimes heard from her former students as they grew into adulthood. Many told her that she was the best teacher they had ever encountered, bending their lives toward ongoing education and the pure joy of finding things out. Doreen remained forever proud of her legacy as a teacher.
In retirement, Doreen focused on becoming a skilled and productive gardener. She transformed a hillside behind her house into a well-ordered, innovative and productive garden. Her harvests supplied delicious fruit and vegetables which Doreen prepared and served daily for her family.
Doreen prized social contact and earnest conversation. She partnered for many years with like-minded women who regularly played whist and with others who became expert at shooting pool together. She was an earnest participant in walking groups that tramped Island trails.
As a parent, Doreen was a great mom who was devoted to her two children and who held immense pride in both. Through endless example, she taught them to value independent thinking and integrity. She took great joy in watching them blossom into adulthood as they set out onto their own independently chosen paths.
As a spouse, Doreen was a loving and tireless partner, a woman of superhuman patience throughout her 54 years of marriage to Carl.
Doreen is survived by her son Justin Morgan and daughter Alexis Morgan, and by her sisters Dayle West, Renee Anderson, and Patricia Long. Doreen is survived by husband Carl Morgan, for whom she improved every day of their many years together.
Doreen Elizabeth Morgan lived her life on her own terms, every moment with grace. She will be missed by all of us who had the great fortune to know her.
