On November 25th, Richard L. “Rick” Morgan, 68, passed away, in peace, in his beloved home of Helena.
He died within sight of the landmarks of each of the milestones that recalled his
long, and rich, life, spent always within a mile of Last Chance Gulch.
Though he could never bring himself to admit it within earshot of real Montanans, Rick was born in New York City, with a birth certificate bearing the signature of Fiorello LaGuardia. WWII put Rick’s family where his father flew for Eastern Airlines, following service in World War II, as a B-17 pilot.
The later Korean War gave Rick a chance to savor his other heaven on earth, riding with his maternal grandfather, an engineer for the B&O Railroad, on one of the last steam trains in America, through the Ohio River Valley to Cincinnati. As he waited for his father to return from the Korean War, and his family to resume its war-interrupted life, Rick’s first education came in the classroom of that train. He learned that steam engines allowed just enough time refilling the boiler, and turning the locomotive for the trip home, that he, and his grandfather, had time
to sneak away and enjoy the complete afternoon game of his immortal Cincinnati Reds.
Throughout his life, Rick’s many friends and adventures at Carroll College, animated and illustrated the stories he always enjoyed sharing with others.
Two days after Rick graduated from Carroll, as an accountant in 1967, he received his draft notice for the Vietnam War, and was called by his country to serve on the DMZ in South Korea, where he spent the better part of two years. His service saw the height of tensions, there, following the seizure of the USS Pueblo. And Korea marked the longest stretch that Rick ever lived away from Helena for the remainder of his life.
Once back in Helena in 1969, he married Helena native, Eileen Flanagan, and daughter of Helena small business owners, in the Carroll College chapel. And he began his professional life with Galusha, Higgins & Galusha, as an accountant, in an office close enough to home that he walked the Last Chance Gulch to work.
During the 1970s, Rick bore witness to, and mourned, as a parent of lost children, the demolition, by the devastation of urban renewal, of each historical structure on that walk.
True to his lifelong dedication to small, family businesses, and the local culture, Rick, and accounting partner, Pat Devries, opened their own independent business in the heart of the Gulch, and entered themselves into the arena of Montana politics. Both expressed their love for Montana, and its people, where Rick managed Pat’s campaign for the Public Service Commission, and she inspired Rick’s own turn in public service in the early 1980s, as a senior member of Governor Ted Schwinden’s staff in the Montana Department of the Treasury.
Leaving government, in the mid-1980s, Rick again set up his own business as an accountant, helping small and individual-owner businesses plan their growth, and make their payrolls, to meet the needs of Helena’s unique cultural heritage.
As clients, Rick only accepted small, locally-owned businesses, and his greatest pride lay in the businesses he could nurture. In the 1970s and 1980s, Rick and Eileen also brought into the world their two sons, Colin and Brendan, both born in Helena, and educated in its schools.
Rick retired from his life’s work just a few years ago, and used his spare time to challenge his friends around town on their knowledge of the more arcane statistics of Cincinnati Reds’ players. He will be forever remembered by those who knew the name “Red legs”, in its proper chronology, and the exact length to the fence down the third base line of Crosley Field, before Cincinnati retired the “Old Boomerang”. And he will be forever beloved by those family members who know, because of Rick, the exact distance in paces in Cincinnati from the train station to the ticket gate.
Rick Morgan is survived by his mother Mary Morgan, in Helena, his brother Tom Morgan, his sons, Colin, in New York City, Brendan in Missoula, and Eileen Morgan who resides in Seattle, Washington.
The parish Mass at Saint Mary Catholic Community on December 14th at 4:30 p.m. will be celebrated for the intention of Rick Morgan. Please visit below to offer a condolence to the family or to share a memory of Richard.
Service Schedule
Services are pending at this time or no services will be held. If available, please see obituary for more information.
Service Schedule
Services are pending at this time or no services will be held. If available, please see obituary for more information.
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Patricia Blais says
I was so sorry to hear of Rick’s passing. I always found him to be wonderfully genuine, friendly, reliable, approachable, with such a great sense of humor. He will be greatly missed.
Bob Bryant says
My relation with Rick was primarily business related, but I came to consider Rick a friend. I enjoyed our discussion of baseball where I was always the student. I will miss
Rick as I’m sure everyone will who knew him.
Rita McClain says
So glad that I met Rick and that he was part of my life. Enjoyed his stories and he almost always left me shaking my head as he grinned at my disbelief! Sorry you had to leave so soon.
Dennis Lavery says
Rick and I were college classmates and good friends. I haven’t seen him since we graduated, but i’ve often told stories about our escapades. He was a great friend and a good person. Our world is a lesser place for his passing.
Dave Hanson says
Back in the early 2000s, “Rickety”, Lynn Fiegel, and I shortened the winters up north by going to Tucson in the fall to see Gay and Eddie Scheibl and their fledgeling business. Of course, we’d take a trip to Nogalas, Mexico, while we were there. Then when the Mexicans got a little rough, Rickety and I moved the trip to coincide with spring training. Unfortunately, that only lasted a few years when Tucson let the teams return to Phoenix. So, we haven’t been there lately. But they were good years, and good trips. All of the above, and I in particular, wish Rickety a happy landing wherever.
Amy Jensen says
I am saddened to hear of Rick’s passing. He was a good friend who I enjoyed working with in his retirement years at the MBA. I enjoyed our Friday afternoon cocktails at the Windbag and will miss his honesty and his stories. I am sorry for your loss.