Thomas J. Morgan

of Providence. Passed away on Friday, December 29, 2017, peacefully, in his apartment. Just the week before, he had celebrated his 75th birthday with his family.

Morgan was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1942, and emigrated to the US in 1954 with his family. Son of the late Elizabeth and Thomas S. Morgan, he was the loving father of Kelly Shilo of Foster, RI and James Morgan of Andover, MN, grandfather of Abby, Sam, Ian, Will, and Lucy, and brother of Chris Morgan of Roslindale, MA.

“Car 1, Car 1 come in.” For a moment, silence is the only response to the radio call from the newsroom. Car 1 could be on the way to pick up its driver’s laundry, or hurtling through the streets of Providence to the latest shooting.

Negotiating between boredom and danger, its driver on many nights was Thomas J. Morgan, a reporter for nearly 50 years at the Providence Journal.

Morgan came to the Journal in the mid-nineteen sixties from the Hartford Courant. He also did a hitch in the U.S. Navy, which included a trip to Antarctica, often recalled when the weather in Rhode Island turned chilly.

Morgan seldom traveled, near or far, without his backpack of books and newspapers. For the Journal, he traveled to Egypt in 1988 to view artifacts of Rameses II that would be displayed at the Boston Museum of Science. He also filed stories from Jerusalem, among other foreign locations. In 1994 he traveled to France to write about the fiftieth anniversary of D-Day.  World War II was a long-standing interest that never seemed to get old with him.

Some of his other interests included: gathering wild mushrooms and selling some to the city’s best restaurants; astronomy; and fishing from the old Jamestown Bridge in his runabout boat. He loved chess. Bars provided, besides alcohol, the occasional chess challengers who often found they were in for a long night.

The family will hold a memorial service this Saturday, January 6 at Nardolillo Funeral Home & Crematory, 1278 Park Ave, Cranston, RI. Visiting hours will be from 2-4 PM, and the memorial service will begin at 4PM.

Submitted by Andrew Burkhardt, retired Journal City Editor, and Chris Morgan, brother of Thomas.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to: Providence Journal Summertime Fund, c/o RI Foundation, One Union Station, Providence, RI 02903. www.providencejournal.com/giving