Dr. Samuel Harold "Doc" Morgan, Jr.

Dr. Samuel H. Morgan died, Thursday, October 09, 2025.  He was the son of the late Samuel H. Morgan, Sr. and Mabel Burleson Morgan.  He was a direct descendant of the first Baptist minister of the state of Tennessee, Rev. Jonathan Mulkey (4th great-grandfather) and the third Vice President of the Republic of Texas Gen. Edward Burleson, and was a member of First Families of Tennessee.

He grew up in Greeneville, attended the University of Tennessee, and graduated from East Tennessee State University (BS) and the University of Alabama (MS and PhD).

Dr. Morgan served in the U.S. Army in the 101st Airborne Division and the Nike Missile Development program at White Sands, NM.

He worked for 32 years as an astrophysicist for NASA at the Marshall Space Flight Center, AL and at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC as Assistant Manager of Future NASA Astrophysics Missions.  His research areas included Cosmic Rays, Radio Astronomy, General Relativity, and Magnetospheric Physics.  He was involved in the Apollo Moon Landing, Compton Gamma Ray Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-Ray Telescope, and several other space missions.  His position before retiring in 1995 was as Division Chief of the Physics and Astronomy Division, Marshall Space Flight Center.  He was then Senior Research Scientist/Adjunct Professor of Physics, at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Dr. Morgan was an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy of Walters State Community College, Morristown, TN where he retired in 2010.

Dr. Morgan was preceded in death by his parents, a sister, Jean Kaiser, and a brother, Robert Lee Morgan.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Constance Hodge Morgan; children, David Morgan, and Lori (Todd) Guess of Knoxville, Joseph Morgan, Daniel Morgan, and Catherine Perreault of Huntsville, Al; stepchildren, Brent Oliver of Bean Station, Jarrod Oliver and Andrea Wolfe of Morristown; five grandchildren, Chris, Will, Max Perreeault, and Hannah and Gabe Guess; four step-grandchildren, Dylan Wolfe, Cora Oliver, Kaitlyn Oliver, and Joel Oliver; step-great-grandson, Hendon Wolfe; a sister, Peggy Morgan of Asheville, NC.

The family will receive friends from 6-7 P.M. at Hillcrest Baptist Church Friday, October 17, 2025.  Funeral services will follow at 7:00 P.M.  Interment will be announced at Dalton Cemetery in Bean Station.

Arrangements by Stetzer-Bales Funeral Home.

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