Helene Bartels Morgan

Helene Bartels Morgan was called home to be with the Lord on January 10, 2020, in Houston, Texas.  Helene fought cancer with the same gentle, uncomplaining spirit with which she lived her entire life.  The family will receive friends from 1:00-2:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 19, 2020, at Marshall & Marshall Funeral Directors in Hillsboro, Texas.  A funeral service will follow at 2:00 p.m. at the funeral home, with Rev. Vernon Sansom officiating.  Burial will be at Ridge Park Cemetery in Hillsboro. 

She was born on November 9, 1930, on a farm near Taft, Texas, the youngest of seven children of Erna Romberg Bartels and Karl Richard Bartels.  She attended the public schools in Taft and graduated valedictorian of the 1948 class.  She attended the University of Texas in Austin, where she was a member of Orange Jackets, Mortar Board, and Phi Beta Kappa.  She graduated in 1952 and taught science in the Corpus Christi, Texas public schools for three years.

On April 10, 1954, she married Chester Stephen Morgan, Jr. in Corpus Christi, and their first child was born in 1955.  In 1956 they moved to Oak Ridge, Tennessee where they lived continuously except for one year in 1964-1965, when they lived in Wantage, Berkshire, England while Chester worked at the British Atomic Energy Establishment in Harwell.  The Morgan family lived in the Emory Valley section of Oak Ridge from July 1959 until Chester passed away in August of 2013 and Helene moved to Houston.

While her children were small, she was a Sunday school teacher and was active in the Woodland PTA.  She was a leader in Blue Birds and Campfire Girls.  From 1975 to 1989, she was employed as an information analyst at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, working primarily at the Environmental Teratology Information Center.

Her most important and cherished blessings were her faith, church, and family.  She was an active member of the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Oak Ridge.  She served as head of the Vacation Bible School, circle chairman, and choir member.  She attended the Monday Bible study group.  Her hobbies included reading, working puzzles, needlework, and yard work.  During her retirement years, she served as a docent at the Children’s Museum and played duplicate bridge.  She achieved the ranking of Life Master in 2005.

Helene and her husband greatly enjoyed traveling.  They visited all 50 of the United States and six of the continents.  Each winter they enjoyed several weeks in the Florida Keys.

She is survived by four children, Dr. Anne Jordan and husband, Dr. Richard Jordan, of Memphis, Tennessee, Blaine Morgan of Libby, Montana, Ronald Morgan and wife, Melanie Morgan, of Waco, Texas, and Nancy Bagnoli and husband, Ken Bagnoli, of The Woodlands, Texas; thirteen grandchildren, Spencer Jordan and wife, Lauren, Morgan Jordan, Josh Jordan and wife, Brenna, Bennett Jordan, Rebecca Morgan Osborne and husband, Sean, Benjamin Morgan and wife, Karen, Veronica Morgan, Nathaniel Morgan, Michael Bagnoli, Andrew Bagnoli, Stephen Bagnoli, Abigail Bagnoli, Zachary Bagnoli; and great-grandsons Brody Osborne and Liam Morgan.  She is also survived by sisters-in-law, Cornelia Morgan of Corpus Christi, Texas, Mary Lou Bartels of Kerrville, Texas, and brother-in-law, Dr. Larry Hardwicke of Abilene, Texas.  She is preceded in death by sisters, Roseline Bartels who died in childhood, Sonja McKemie and husband, Wesley, of Tyler, Texas, Linda Hardwicke of Abilene, Texas, and Nita Pritchett of Midland, Texas; brothers, Karl Bartels of Kerrville, Texas, and Bernhard Bartels and wife, Lois, of Snyder, Texas; brother-in-law, Benjamin Morgan of Corpus Christi, Texas; and great-grandson, Martin Jordan of Memphis, Tennessee.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, P.O. Box 4836, Oak Ridge, TN, 37830 or a charity of your choice.

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