Chester Morgan, Jr

Biography

Chester Stephen Morgan, Jr., 91, of Oak Ridge, TN went to Heaven on Saturday, August 17, 2013. Graveside services will be he held at Noon on Saturday, August 24, 2013, at Ridge Park Cemetery in Hillsboro with Rev. Vernon Sansom officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Oak Ridge; P. O. Box 4836; Oak Ridge, TN, 37830.

He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Helene Bartels Morgan. He was born on October 20, 1921, in Houston the oldest child of Anna May Smith Morgan and Chester Stephen Morgan of Hillsboro. After attending Hillsboro Junior College, he graduated from Rice University with a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering in February 1944. Later that year he started Naval Indoctrination School in Plattsburg, New York. Further training was in the new science of sonar in Key West, Florida. He then served on a destroyer escort patrolling in the Pacific. In 1946 as the highest ranking officer of a decommissioned ship, he was given the ship's flag. In 1950 he graduated with a Ph. D. in physical chemistry from Rice and started working at the Celanese Research and Development Laboratory near Corpus Christi.

In 1956 he and his family moved to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to begin his career at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In the Basic Science Division of the Metals and Ceramics Division, he performed fundamental studies on the process of sintering. In 1964, he spent a year as an exchange scientist at the British Atomic Energy Establishment at Harwell in England and became a lifelong tea drinker. In 1982, he and three other scientists won an IR-100 award for “High Performance Ceramics through Inclusion of Dispersed Metals or Metallic Precipitates.” During his career, he was awarded about eleven patents and wrote approximately thirty-two scientific papers. He retired in August of 1982.

He and his wife greatly enjoyed traveling. They visited all 50 of the United States through camping trips and toured numerous foreign countries. They traveled on most of the continents. Each winter they relished spending several weeks to months in the Florida Keys.

His Christian faith was the foundation of his life. He was an active member of the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He enjoyed Bible study, teaching Sunday school and serving as an elder and missions committee member. In 1997 he published a science fiction novel, The Yanius Mystery, intending to show the benefits of Christianity. His hobbies included reading, avidly keeping up with the stock market, running and hiking, and playing duplicate bridge. He attained the ranking of Bridge Life Master. For many years he was a member of the Atomic Optimists Investment Club and the Kiwanis Club of Oak Ridge.

He always had a soft heart for animals, and his children knew he was the parent to ask for a new pet. He is also survived by his four children, Dr. Anne Jordan and husband, Dr. Richard Jordan, of Memphis, TN; Blaine Morgan of St. Paul, MN; Ronald Morgan and wife, Melanie Morgan, of Waco, TX; and Nancy Bagnoli and husband, Ken Bagnoli, of Fairfax, VA; his thirteen grandchildren, Spencer Jordan, Morgan Jordan, Taylor Jordan, Bennett Jordan, Rebecca Morgan, Benjamin Morgan, Veronica Morgan, Nathaniel Morgan, Michael Bagnoli, Andrew Bagnoli, Stephen Bagnoli, Abigail Bagnoli, and Zachary Bagnoli; sister-in-law, Cornelia Morgan of Corpus Christi, TX; and the brothers and sister of his wife. He was preceded in death by his parents and by a brother, Benjamin Ernest Morgan.

Graveside Service

Saturday August 24, 2013 , Noon at Ridge Park Cemetery