Born Nov. 26, 1956
Englewood, NJ
Died Sept. 17, 2024
Leysin, Switzerland
Details of service
A service will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 13 at the Second Congregational Church in Londonderry, VT, with a reception to follow in the Friendship Room. All are welcome. In September 2025 there will be a Swiss celebration of his life on “The “Magic Mountain” near Le Refuge de Mayen, his trail terminus.
Jeffery B. Morgan, of Peru, VT and Casey Key, FL, died unexpectedly on September 17, 2024 while hiking the Berneuse in Leysin, Switzerland. Morgan died on a sunny, warm day with his poles still in hand, booted off this mortal coil too early for his family.
Jeff was born in Englewood, NJ on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26, 1959. We give thanks for his life. He leaves behind his wife of 38 years, Virginia (Turnure) Morgan and his two sons, Henry Bedford Morgan of Malden, MA and Nicholas Chittenden Morgan of Hampden Sydney, VA. He was predeceased by both parents, Charles Bedford Morgan and Elsbeth Wright Morgan, as well as his younger brother, Ted Morgan. He is survived by his sister, Alix (Morgan) Shaw of Cazenovia, NY, his older brother, Charles B. Morgan Jr., of Fairfield, CT, and many nieces and nephews.
Jeff attended Northwood School in Lake Placid, Colorado State University (B.A. English) and Paul’s Smith’s College (A.A.S. Hotel Management). He was Director of Alberta Bound, a summer mountaineering camp for teens in the Canadian Rockies, when he met Virginia, who was studying at UVM. He liked to embarrass Virginia by telling everyone: “We spent the summer together in a tent.” The two shared a love of mountains, hiking, and culinary explorations.
After graduating from CSU, he enrolled at Paul Smith’s College and took the ferry over from Plattsburgh to visit Virginia every weekend. They married 3 years later. He proposed to Virginia in Nantucket in August 1985, when Jeff was working as desk manager at the Jared Coffin House. After university, Jeff and Virginia managed the Highland House for two years, then bought, renovated, and, after 7 years, sold the Smugglers Notch Inn in Jeffersonville, VT. Nick and Henry both were born in Burlington during this time.
Leaving the innkeeping profession, they returned to southern Vermont and settled in Peru in 1995. Jeff worked at Stratton Mountain and Southwestern Vermont Medical Center. In 2010, Jeff and Virginia relocated to Guadalajara, Mexico. This was the start of a joyful and rewarding time traveling and working in international schools. They spent 11 years in Mexico, China, South Korea, and Switzerland and retired in 2021, returning to Peru. They returned to Switzerland this past August. Jeff went hiking every day there; Virginia and Jeff spent most weekends traveling, staying at auberges, hiking and embracing local cuisine.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Jeffrey B. Morgan.