James Lauder Morgan ’45

James Lauder Morgan ’45, former Davidson College trustee, died at his home in Laurel Hill, N.C., August 27. Jimmy was born December 31, 1924, in Charlotte, a son of the late Edwin and Elise McKinnon Morgan. He grew up in Laurel Hill and Laurinburg and attended public schools in Laurinburg before graduating from the McCallie School in 1941. He attended Davidson College from 1941 to 1943, and served in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a first lieutenant and B-29 bomber navigator in the Pacific Campaign, World War II. Following the war, he graduated from UNC Chapel Hill in 1949 with a B.S. degree in commerce. Upon graduation, he joined Morgan Mills (now the Morgan Company) in 1949. He was presently chairman of The Morgan Company and The Morgan Foundation. He served as a member of the Scotland County Board of Education and was a member of the Scotland County Board of Commissioners. Jimmy also volunteered for Scotland County United Way, where he served as past president in 1973-74, the Scotland County Arts Council, Community Concert Association, North Carolina Symphony Society, and was past a chairman of Scotland Memorial Hospital. He also served as a trustee for St. Andrews Presbyterian College from 1967 to the present and served as chairman from 1987–90. He was also a past trustee of Davidson College, Montreat College, and Union Theological Seminary. An active Presbyterian, he was a member and elder emeritus at the Church in the Pines in Laurel Hill, a former board member of Presbyterian Homes of North Carolina, was serving as a trustee for Scotia Village Retirement Community from 1984 to the present, and was the president of the Scotia Village Foundation from 1993 to the present. Jimmy studied piano with his aunt, Bessie Gibson Morgan, and clarinet from her son, Harold Gibson, and also learned to play saxophone. With various bands he played at McCallie School, Davidson College, and at the 1942 Rose Bowl, which was played in Durham. His love of jazz and swing music of the 1930s and 1940s kept him active playing in various bands for numerous charitable causes on a statewide and local basis. He is survived by his wife of fifty-eight years, Elizabeth Evans Morgan, P.O. Box 1167, Laurel Hill, N.C. 28351; son, the Rev. Dr. James L. Morgan, Jr. (Annette); three daughters, Dr. Patricia Elise Morgan ’74 (Terry L. Wright), Kay Morgan Anderson, and Susan Morgan Farrell (Charles); and ten grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a brother, Marcus M. Morgan ’50.