Nelson Gilbert "Pop" Morgan

Nelson G. “Pop” Morgan was born in St. Louis, Missouri on November 4, 1909. His mother, Sallie Jay Morgan was a seamstress. His father, Nelson S. Morgan, was employed by the Order of Railroad Telegraphers. He spent sixty years of his life in Brentwood, a St. Louis suburb, and attended the Brentwood Public Schools. He survived a serious illness with the Spanish Flu in 1918-1919, but had good health most of his life afterwards. He lived briefly in California in the 1920s and took his only airplane flight in an open cockpit bi-plane while there. In 1928, he was employed by the Beard Engineering Company of St. Louis as a surveyor of streets, highways, and drainage. In 1930, he was hired by the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company as an agent-telegrapher in rural Kansas. He lost that job when the depression hit and the rail line was abandoned. He farmed for several years near Vandalia, Missouri. He later was rehired by the Missouri Pacific Railroad as a bus driver for the Missouri Pacific bus lines and spent about eight years driving, mostly on the St. Louis to Poplar Bluff, Missouri route. He was breaking in as a locomotive fireman when he was drafted in late 1943. Prior to leaving for basic training in Texas, he married Vera Shoults of Bismarck, Missouri. They had met while she was working as a waitress at the bus stop in Farmington, Missouri. They married on December 27, 1943. Following basic training, he was sent to Lincoln, Nebraska for training with the army transportation corps. He was assigned to the 723rd Railway Operating Battalion and arrived in France via Omaha Beach with his unit in mid August, 1944. He suffered a knee injury just days later that would create problems for him later in life, but the army never recognized the injury. He provided logistics support during the Battle of the Bulge and later helped control a railroad bridge over the Rhine River, allowing American supplies to pour into Germany. After the war, he returned to working for the Missouri Pacific. He became a father early in 1948 with the birth of his only child, Nelson S. Morgan. Two weeks later he took a new position as an interlocking tower operator with the St. Louis Terminal Railroad. He would stay with the Terminal until his retirement as train director on July 6, 1974. Nelson is a 72 year member of the Masonic lodge, having joined George Washington Lodge #9 in 1942. He is also a member of the Scottish Rite and the York Rite and has received multiple awards and recognitions over the years. In the late 1950s, Nelson continued an earlier interest in massage and became a licensed physical therapist. He provided massage therapy via house calls to a number of patients over the next decade and was one of the early members of the American Massage and Therapy Association. Nelson literally grew up with the automobile and as a young man had his own repair business in the family garage. He enjoyed tinkering with and repairing autos the rest of his life and was very good at it. He enjoyed camping and lake canoeing. As a member of the Wabash, Frisco, and Pacific miniature railroad, he built his own small scale train and enjoyed taking his grandchildren for rides. In 1977, he and Vera built a retirement home in her hometown of Bismarck where he enjoyed gardening and landscaping. Vera passed in March, 1992. Nelson continued to live in Bismarck until 1997 when he moved to Waynesville to be closer to his son’s family. He has continued to be involved in his lodge work and attended college graduations of both grandchildren. On his 100th birthday in 2009, people from across the state gathered to wish him well at a party thrown by his family. He blew out all 100 candles on his birthday cake. Nelson continued to live independently until a month past his 103rd birthday when he moved into the Waynesville Life Care Center. He enjoyed visits from friends, lodge brethren, his grandson, and especially his three great grandchildren. Nelson once stated that he thought the biggest change in his life was in electronic communications. Born before the development of the radio, skyping with his great grandchildren was about as good as it could get. Masonic services were held at 6:00 p.m. Thursday, February 12, 2015 in the Memorial Chapels and Crematory with funeral services that followed at 6:30 p.m. with Pastor Bill O’Neal officiating. Family friend, Roy Gilkey, recalled his wonderful memories of Pop. The songs “The Old Rugged Cross”, “How Great Thou Art” and “He Touched Me” were played. Graveside services were held at 11:00 a.m. Friday, February 13, 2015 in the Bismarck Masonic Cemetery of Bismarck, Missouri. Serving as escorts were family and friends. Services were under the direction of Memorial Chapels and Crematory of Waynesville / St. Robert. Memorial contributions may be made in memory of Pop Morgan to the St. Louis Scottish Rite Scholarship Fund and may be left at the funeral home.

Nelson Gilbert "Pop" Morgan

November 4, 1909 - February 7, 2015