Obituary for Mary C. Morgan (Brown) Mary Clinton (Brown) Morgan was born March 14, 1941 to Mary Bernice Floyd and Clinton Brown. She received her wings on Sept. 5, 2018 after battling cancer and Alzheimer’s.
She was 77. The youngest of two children, Mary was a product and a life-long resident of White Plains, NY. She was educated in the Greenburgh county public school system, graduating White Plains High School in 1958.
In addition to school studies, Mary also studied piano and organ. She was proficient in both, but preferred the vibrating resonance and full-body commitment required to play the organ. A lover of music, Mary begged her mother at age 14 and won permission to leave her home church, to join Union Baptist Church and its choir, which boasted two things Mt.
Hope AME Zion did not — several of her school friends in the choir and a soul-stirring pipe organ, which she loved. After high school, she attended secretarial school in New York City. In 1962 at a birthday party, she met a handsome young soldier who had returned to the area after serving four years in peacetime Korea.
Robert (Bob) Morgan, also of White Plains, asked her out that day, and a year later, the couple married. They went on to have three sons: Geoffrey, Corey and Kevin. Mary was a devoted wife and mother, who suspended her professional career while the boys were young in order to raise them at home.
When the youngest was able to attend school, she returned to work, spending much of her career and retiring from IBM, where Bob also worked, before working a few years at Kraft Foods, in Purchase, NY. Mary was great in shorthand, and quick on the typewriter. She learned to maintain a high level of professionalism — especially in dress — at all times, and her efforts were rewarded with multiple promotions.
In a career that spanned more than 30 years, she rose from her secretarial position to that of managing a pool of administrative assistants at the executive level. Both Bob and Mary were very active in clubs and activities in White Plains. Because Bob was an avid supporter of Boy Scouts as a troop leader, Mary became a den mother, and all three boys participated in the club.
But Mary supported many of her own community activities as well. Most beloved was the mass choir at Union Baptist, formerly known as the Wade Chorale. For decades Mary was choir secretary, and was responsible for taking attendance holding members accountable for dress and decorum.
She was also secretary of the in the church’s credit union, and the White Plains Cotillion Committee. In support of her husband and his leadership in the African American Men of Westchester, another community organization, Mary transcribed meeting notes for the group. She served as secretary for the Greenburgh Housing Authority, and also regularly met with her Uno club, a group of female friends who enjoyed dinners and fellowship together over the card game.
Mary was also an entrepreneur. She was known throughout Greenburgh for her beautifully-designed gift baskets and outlandish personalized greetings cards created through her company Artistic Reality. Her cards, which were often oversized, were lavishly embellished with pearls, feathers and even mirrors!
She served businesses, organizations, non-profits and several individual clients with her creative talent. For vacation, Mary thoroughly enjoyed cruising – having experienced her first excursion in the 1970s. She could sit and talk for hours about the benefits and enjoyment of cruising, and share all the latest details about Royal Caribbean’s newest ship.
Over the years, she convinced many of her friends to join her and Bob, which led to Mary organizing group trips every other year. In 2010 she took her last cruise, just a few months before Bob passed away. Six years later, she was acknowledged by the Union Baptist choir for 60 years of service.
She remains one of its longest-serving members. Mary survived at least two battles with cancer — including breast cancer — before her health more recently declined. She was preceded in death by her her husband Robert Morgan; parents Mary Floyd and Clinton Brown; aunt Alexine Campbell; sisters-in-law: Helen Floyd, Mary Ann Hall, Thelma Tate, Ethel Mills, Mildred Floyd, Eleanor Martin; and niece Darlenedea Mills.
She leaves to cherish her memory sons: Geoffrey on assignment at the US 5th Fleet Naval Base, Al Manama, Bahrain, Corey (TaNoah) of Upper Marlboro, Md. , and Kevin of White Plains; brother Marquette Floyd of Orlando, Fla. ; granddaughters Noelle and Naomi Morgan of Upper Marlboro, Md.
; brother-in-law Thomas (Yvonne) Morgan of Yorktown Heights, NY; nieces: Melody Morgan of White Plains and Cheryl Morgan of New York; and nephews: Stafford (Lydia) Floyd and Jonathan Floyd of Los Angeles, Calif. , Braxton Floyd of Orlando, Fla. , Victor (Elizabeth) Martin of Oswego, NY, Albert (Heather) Mills of Hayes, Va.
And Clayton Morgan of Clarksville, Tenn. The Entire Staff of Lee’s Funeral Home, LLC respects that the Morgan family entrusted the care of their loved one to us, and that they value the level of service & attention our funeral home provides. We are honored, in turn, to provide comfort, assistance and service to the Morgan family during their time of bereavement.
In LIEU of flowers, the family appreciates/kindly requests contributions be made in her name/memory/honor to: The American Cancer Society (may be done through donation tab here from Menu above or to left, or on your own). You may also light a candle above in her memory as a form of condolence, and/or plant a tree in her memory as a lasting memorial, please, instead of flowers. To send flowers to the family of Mary C. Morgan (Brown), please visit our Heartfelt Sympathies Store.
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