Obituary of Linton Morgan

WE ARE ALL GATHERED HERE TO SAY FAREWELL TO A MAN THAT IN LIFE WAS DEEPLY LOVED. THE LOVE WE ALL SHARE FOR THIS MAN WILL NEVER PERISH. THIS MAN WAS CALLED POPSIE BY MANY OF HIS RELATIVES AND CLOSE FRIENDS. AS FOR ME AND MY SIBLINGS, WE REFER TO HIM AS DAD AND MOST OFTEN POPS. I DONT THINK DAD KNEW HOW HIS NICKNAME POPSIE CAME ABOUT BECAUSE I REMEMBER WHEN MY SISTER SHARON GOT MARRIED, HIS COUSIN WHO WAS THE MC AT THE WEDDING, ASKED HIM "HOW DID YOU GET THAT NICKNAME POPSIE", AND HIS REPLY WAS IT CAME ABOUT WITH HIS CHILDHOOD FREINDS AND HE COULDN'T REMEMBER THE SIGNIFICANCE OF IT. DAD WAS BORN AND RAISED IN KINGSTON, JAMAICA. HIS BIRTHDAY WAS FEBRUARY 15, 1930. AFTER HE LEFT HIGH SCHOOL DAD WENT TO WORK FOR A CLOTHING RETAILER IN KINGSTON. SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE, HE MET AN AQUAINTANCE WHO CONVINCED HIM TO GO TO TECHNICAL SCHOOL TO STUDY DENTISTRY. HE ENROLLED IN THAT TECHNICAL SCHOOL AND QUICKLY DISCOVERED AN AFFINITY TO THIS PROFESSION. POPS EXCELLED IN THE DENTAL PROFESSION TO WHERE HE WAS ABLE TO START HIS OWN BUSINESS SHORTLY AFTER GRADUATING FROM THE TECHNICAL COLLEGE. ALONG THE WAY, HE MET AND MARRIED MOM. TOGETHER THEY HAD FOUR CHILDREN AND ALL TOGETHER THEY RAISED SIX CHILDREN. POPS WAS ALWAYS REACHING OUT FOR MORE IN LIFE. NOT BECAUSE HE WAS GREEDY, BUT AMBITIOUS ENOUGH TO STRIVE FOR A BETTER WAY OF LIFE FOR HIS FAMILY AND HIMSELF. I THINK THIS HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH GENETICS OR SIMPLY THE WATER ON THE ISLAND. IN SCHOOL WE WERE TAUGHT THE NAME JAMAICA MEANS THE LAND OF WOOD AND WATER. PEOPLE FROM THE ISLANDS HAVE THIS SIMILAR CHARACTERISTIC. IT IS COMMON TO FIND THEM WITH 2 OR MORE JOBS GOING ON AT THE SAME TIME. POPS WAS THIS KIND OF PERSON AS WELL. HE MANAGED TO GET BACK IN SCHOOL AND STUDIED BOOK KEEPING AND ACCOUNTING. HE WAS WELL EQUIPPED TO HANDLE THE TECHNICAL SIDE OF HIS BUSINESS AS WELL AS THE ACCOUNTING AND BOOK KEEPING. WHEN HE ARRIVED IN AMERICA, HE WENT TO SCHOOL TO STUDY REAL ESTATE TO BECOME A REALTOR AGENT/BROKER. SO ALONG WITH HIS DENTAL BUSINESS AND HIS ACCOUNTING BACK GROUND, HE ALSO WAS SELLING AND BROKERING REAL ESTATE DEALS. SOME OF YOU MIGHT REMEMBER IF YOU WANTED YOUR TAXES DONE, POPS WOULD DO IT FOR YOU. MOST OFTEN HE WOULD NOT CHARGE FOR DOING THAT SERVICE FOR YOU. HE ALONG WITH MY BROTHER WAS ACTUALLY THE FIRST JAMAICANS IN THE TOWN OF AMITYVILLE TO OPEN A BUSINESS THERE. THEY CLOSED THAT DOWN WHEN MY BROTHER DECIDED TO OPEN A DENTAL LAB, AND WHO WAS DOING THE BOOKS FOR HIM? POPS. EVENTUALLY, POPS RETIRED FROM THAT BUSINESS. POPS WAS FATHER TO SO MANY CLOSE FRIENDS AND RELATIVES. IN RETROSPECT, I THINK THAT IS PROBABLY WHY HE EARNED THAT NICKNAME POPSIE. THIS MAN REALLY EXEMPLIFIED THE TERM FATHER. AND IF I WERE TO CHOOSE SOMETHING TO CALL HIS LEGACY IT WOULD BE THAT HE WAS TRUELY A FATHER TO MANY. WHILE GROWING UP WITH THIS REMARKABLE MAN, HE NEVER ONCE GAVE US THE IMPRESSION THAT HE FAVORED ANY ONE OF US MORE THAN THE OTHER. AND BECAUSE OF OUR UPBRINGING AND HIS EXAMPLE, WE NEVER FELT JEALOUS OR RESENTFUL OF HIS KINDNESS TO OTHER PEOPLE IN HIS LIFE. MY COUSIN CHARM TOLD ME A STORY ABOUT HOW POPS PAID HER MOTHER'S, SCHOOL FEE TO GO TO DRESS MAKING SCHOOL. ANOTHER ONE OF HIS SISTERS MADE HER WAY TO NURSING SCHOOL IN ENGLAND WITH POPS HELP. ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS HE GAVE A FRIEND A JOB IN HIS DENTAL LAB AND TRAINED THEM IN ALL THE ASPECTS OF MAKING AND REPAIRING DENTURES. A FEW OF THESE FRIENDS WENT OFF AND STARTED THEIR OWN PRACTICE WITH SUCCESS. MY DAD WAS SUCH A KIND MAN. HE WOULD GO OUT OF HIS WAY TO REACH OUT TO THOSE IN NEED. THERE WERE TIMES WHEN I WAS A LITTLE BOY GROWING UP THAT MY SIBLINGS AND I WERE HUDDLED UP IN ONE BED EVERY NIGHT, BECAUSE DAD HAD OFFERED TO HOUSE ONE OF HIS FRIENDS OR RELATIVES, WHO WERE EITHER PASSING THROUGH OR NEEDED A PLACE TO STAY, UNTIL THEY COULD FIND THEIR WAY TO MOVE ON. I DON'T KNOW HOW MOM TOLERATED THAT BECAUSE SHE HAD TO BE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH ALL THESE LONG TERM TEMPORARY GUESTS IN THE HOUSE. BUT THEN AS I GREW OLDER I REALIZED THAT THESE RELATIVES AND FRIENDS WERE NOT JUST POPS FRIENDS, SISTERS, AND BROTHERS, THEY WERE ALSO SOME OF MOM'S SISTERS AND BROTHERS. A FEW YEARS AGO MY ELDEST BROTHER, ERROL, PASSED AWAY. I WITNESSED THE OUTPOURING OF PAIN AND SORROW AND REVELATIONS OF LOVE FOR MY BROTHER. DURING THAT TIME, I COULD NOT HELP BUT THINK WHAT A WONDERFUL JOB POPS AND MOM DID RAISING US. TO HAVE ALL OF THE LESSONS AND TRAINING THEY POURED INTO US, MANIFEST ITSELF IN THE WAY MY BROTHER LIVED HIS LIFE. THEY SAY THE CHIP NEVER FALLS TOO FAR FROM THE BLOCK. MY BROTHER ERROL WAS A HINT OF HOW DAD WAS TO EVERYONE. MY BROTHER KEN, IF YOU GET TO KNOW HIM YOU WILL SEE THE SAME NATURE IN HIM AS POPS AND ERROL. MY OTHER BROTHER PATRICK JUST KICKED IT UP ANOTHER NOTCH AND HE IS JUST OFF THE CHAIN WITH LOVE AND KINDNESS, YOU HAVE TO WONDER AT TIMES IF HE TRULY ISN'T ONE OF THE FIRST TWELVE DISCIPLES REINCARNATED. I ON THE OTHER HAND, AM A WORK IN PROGRESS. I AM A LATE BLOOMER AS THEY SAY BUT THERE IS A LOT OF POTENTIAL THERE, YOU JUST HAVE TO LOOK HARDER TO FIND IT. MY TWO SISTERS, SHARON AND CECILE ARE TWO OF THE SWEETEST AND DOWN TO EARTH PEOPLE YOU WOULD EVER WANT TO BE AROUND. I WANTED TO MENTION ALL OF US, POPS AND MOMS CHILDREN, TO ALL OF YOU, BECAUSE KNOWING US WILL GIVE YOU THE TRUE UNDERSTANDING OF WHO DAD WAS. THERE IS NOT ENOUGH TIME HERE FOR ME TO TELL THE MANY STORIES OF THE LOVE AND KINDNESS THIS MAN SPREAD IN HIS LIFE TIME. WE ARE SO OVER JOYED TO HAVE BEEN RAISED BY HIM AND MY MOM. WE CAN ONLY GIVE PRAISE AND THANKS TO GOD FOR THE TIME SPENT WITH HIM. WE KNOW WE WILL MEET AGAIN. I FOR ONE BELIEVE THAT THERE IS LIFE AFTER PASSING THROUGH THIS EXISTENCE HERE ON EARTH. I AM SO HAPPY THAT POPS WILL BE WAITING FOR US ON THE OTHER SIDE. HOW CAN YOU GO WRONG WHEN YOU HAVE SOMEONE LIKE POPS WAITING FOR YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE? SO I WILL KEEP LIVING MY LIFE THE WAY HE TAUGHT US, WITH LOVE FOR EVERYONE WE MEET. WE LOVE YOU DAD AND YOU WILL BE FOREVER MISSED. BEFORE I END HERE TODAY I WANT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU TO KNOW HOW PLEASED AND HAPPY OUR FAMILY ARE THAT YOU TOOK THIS TIME OUT IN YOUR LIVES TO COME OUT AND CELEBRATE DAD'S LIFE WITH US TODAY. BE SAFE WITH THE REST OF YOUR TRAVELS THE NEXT FEW DAYS AND GOD BLESS YOU ALL.