Colonel Jimmie G. Morgan USMC (Retired) passed away on March 27, 2024. His wife Ann Marie Grittner Morgan preceded him on April 30, 2020. They were married for 65 years.
They are survived by two sons, Jonathan and James Allen, and a daughter, Karen Colburn. There are also three grandchildren, Sean Morgan, Katherine Colburn, and Kevin Colburn.
Born June 14, 1931, in Pine Hill, Alabama, Jim was the eldest of six children of Ivan and Vela Morgan. He graduated from Sidney Lanier High School in Montgomery, Alabama in 1949, and shortly after Jim enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. In 1950 he was selected for the NROTC program at Alabama Polytechnic Institute (Auburn), where in 1954 he received a BS in business administration and a commission as a Second Lieutenant.
Ann M. Grittner was born October 15, 1930, in Montgomery, PA, the daughter of Harry M. and Caroline Best Grittner. She met Jimmie Morgan during his ROTC training in Philadelphia while she was attending art school. They lived in the same YMCA building. They married on June 5, 1954, in Auburn, Ala. following his graduation.
Jim earned his wings as a naval aviator in 1956, followed by a distinguished career in Marine Corps aviation, culminating in his designation as the commanding officer of Marine Aircraft Group-14, the largest in the Corps at the time. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for combat service during the Vietnam War and given the Defense Superior Service Medal for his service with the Supreme Allied Command Atlantic. Jim always said that Ann was the biggest asset to his career.
In 1981 Jim and Ann retired to their home in Merritt Island, FL, where they resided for the rest of their lives. They are interred in the Cape Canaveral National Cemetery, Mims, Florida.
Posted online on April 26, 2024
Published in Montgomery Advertiser