Mary Evelyn Morgan McDuff A Tribute to my sister, Mary Evelyn Morgan McDuff
March 17, 1930 - May 24, 2016
Author: Hugh H. Morgan, Editor
I was blessed to have an older sister. She was three years older than me. She was born on March 17, 1930, in Birmingham, Alabama, at the Hillman Hospital. Her name is Mary Evelyn Morgan and she was born on St. Patrick's Day.
Mary Evelyn got the brains and the beauty in our family. She was brilliant and made all A's. In those days of our grammar and high school we got E's instead of A's. She was a member of the National Honor Society, Good Writers Club of America using the Palmer Method. Her penmanship was superb if not copacetic. She played the piano and played for church. She was a good singer and excelled in all she did. She was a gifted writer and wrote stories and dramas that we acted out with handmade puppets. She loved children and was an excellent Sunday school teacher. She would have made a wonderful school teacher.
As children, our mother made sure we took a nap each day. I would fall asleep very rapidly. When we were given a sucker to enjoy, Mary Evelyn would wait for me to doze off to sleep and get my sucker. I didn't know that until later in life. We both laughed.
As far as I can remember she would say she could not recall a specific time when she became a Christian, but she knew she was saved and her life reflected her intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. She was a student of the Bible and I often saw her kneeling in prayer. I know she was sanctified and baptized with the Holy Spirit. She loved church and knew how to worship God. She learned early in life to render service to others.
Our parents were older when they married in 1929. They were Hugh Henry Morgan and Julia Payne Morgan. Consequently, they had old-fashioned ways and beliefs. We were never allowed to buy anything on Sunday, not even an ice cream cone. We were not allowed to go to movies, to play cards, or read comic books. Sundays were sacred days and we were expected to be in Sunday school and church. Whenever there was a church service we were required to be present.
Our father was a bi-vocational minister--an evangelist, church planter and a pastor. He was an excellent carpenter and built houses, repaired or remodeled them, and built churches. He told me that he had helped to build the old Holmes Memorial Church when he was a student at Holmes Bible and Missionary Institute in Greenville, SC, when N. J. Holmes was the president. My parents, prior to their marriage, were students at Holmes.
Mary Evelyn was a beautiful woman. She had dark brown curly hair like our mother, an olive complexion with dark brown eyes. As I recall she stood 5 feet 6 inches tall. Her physical body was perfect. She wore nice clothing and was a smart dresser.
My sister was a very mature young woman. She met and fell in love with R. H. McDuff and they were married when she was 17 years old on August 8, 1948 at the old First Pentecostal Holiness Church in Birmingham that was purchased from the Methodist Church. The Rev. Mr. O. N. Todd, Sr. performed their wedding ceremony. I was there.
Mary Evelyn was still in high school when she married and finished her high school education with honors after she got married.
God blessed Mary Evelyn and R. H. with five children, three boys and two girls. They all have received Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. I love all of them and their families.
R. H. was a great provider for his family. He worked for the police department in the early years of their marriage. However, we got a job at ACIPCO in data processing and retired from the company with fantastic benefits. They were strict tithers and gave offerings. They purchased time shares at PTL, and they often went there to enjoy that exciting place of spiritual renewal and environment with God-fearing people who love Jesus. Melvine and I were invited to go too. We enjoyed staying with them in a Chateau that had a fireplace. I remember one winter the snow coming down and how delightful it was to sit by glow and warmth of the fire. We should have gone more. I always felt that I should be present wherever I pastored a church. I was wrong. Pastors need time away from their church to relax, regroup, and be renewed. Those were memorial days when we did go.
I remember going the J & K Cafeteria. The food was wonderful and the deserts outstanding. Those are precious memories I have of Mary Evelyn, R. H., and Melvine and me enjoying that time together. We read Scripture, prayed, and talked about our mutual faith in Jesus Christ.
Mary Evelyn took great care of our parents in their aging years. I was away in the Air Force when my mother was placed in a nursing home. We would come home to see her as often as we could. My mother always recognized me when I came back to Birmingham to see her in the nursing home. Apparently, she had dementia and didn't know other people. At the time of her death, she was almost 83, I was on active duty at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. I was so emotionally upset that Mary Evelyn planned the funeral for our mother. I was thankful she could do that. She was an excellent planner and a steward of financial resources. She knew how to save money and to invest the financial resources God gave them. They were certainly generous with me. As a side note, R. H. taught me how to drive an automobile. He had purchased a new Jeep after his time in the Army Air Corps. It had a straight gear shift. He went with me to get my driver's license and I passed the test.
When Greg and Stephanie were children my mother died. I remember that Stephanie requested that she see my mother's feet. All the grandchildren called her Honey, and my dad, Doodah. So, we got the funeral director to open the bottom part of the casket to let Stephanie see her feet. As I recall, she had white socks on her feet. She was a tall, stately woman and was an outstanding preacher.
Mary Evelyn took care of our father too. She got him in a nursing home and he loved it. She and our father had a very special relationship. Our dad never met a stranger. When I became the pastor of the Birmingham church, Good Shepherd Church, I was my dad's pastor. I saw him often, but I wish I had gone to see him more. I should have recorded his stories. He was an excellent story teller. He had been a wild west cowboy, and broke trained horses. His father was a rancher in Denison, Texas.
When my dad died, I was there at the hospital. He was 94 and had pneumonia. The doctor and nurse were working to save his life, but couldn't. I handled his death well. I asked to go see his body to make sure he was dead. The doctor never spoke to me. I called Melvine on a pay phone at the hospital. When Melvine said, "I will call my father and tell him about your dad's death," I began to cry. I realized that I could never talk with him again in this life. That was a breakthrough for me to begin the grief process.
I was able to plan my dad's funeral, wrote a tribute to him and gave copies to the family.
I had O. N. Todd, Jr. and Ervin L. Shirey, Sr. to conduct the funeral at the funeral home. My dad loved the Pentecostal Holiness Church. I read the tribute I had written at the funeral at Brown Service Funeral Home. A number of people came to his service. We placed him in the grave next to my mother in a plot they had purchased. I have gone back to that cemetery only a few times.
My sister died May 24, 2016. She had dementia, and did not know us whenever we would visit her on our trips to see our family in Birmingham. I was privileged to conduct her funeral. Melvine sang and Greg accompanied her on the piano. A good group of our family and church friends attended the service.
So, on this St. Patrick's Day, Mary Evelyn Morgan McDuff, I honor my wonderful sister. I hope to see her in heaven.
March 17, 1930 - May 24, 2016
Author: Hugh H. Morgan, Editor
I was blessed to have an older sister. She was three years older than me. She was born on March 17, 1930, in Birmingham, Alabama, at the Hillman Hospital. Her name is Mary Evelyn Morgan and she was born on St. Patrick's Day.
Mary Evelyn got the brains and the beauty in our family. She was brilliant and made all A's. In those days of our grammar and high school we got E's instead of A's. She was a member of the National Honor Society, Good Writers Club of America using the Palmer Method. Her penmanship was superb if not copacetic. She played the piano and played for church. She was a good singer and excelled in all she did. She was a gifted writer and wrote stories and dramas that we acted out with handmade puppets. She loved children and was an excellent Sunday school teacher. She would have made a wonderful school teacher.
As children, our mother made sure we took a nap each day. I would fall asleep very rapidly. When we were given a sucker to enjoy, Mary Evelyn would wait for me to doze off to sleep and get my sucker. I didn't know that until later in life. We both laughed.
As far as I can remember she would say she could not recall a specific time when she became a Christian, but she knew she was saved and her life reflected her intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. She was a student of the Bible and I often saw her kneeling in prayer. I know she was sanctified and baptized with the Holy Spirit. She loved church and knew how to worship God. She learned early in life to render service to others.
Our parents were older when they married in 1929. They were Hugh Henry Morgan and Julia Payne Morgan. Consequently, they had old-fashioned ways and beliefs. We were never allowed to buy anything on Sunday, not even an ice cream cone. We were not allowed to go to movies, to play cards, or read comic books. Sundays were sacred days and we were expected to be in Sunday school and church. Whenever there was a church service we were required to be present.
Our father was a bi-vocational minister--an evangelist, church planter and a pastor. He was an excellent carpenter and built houses, repaired or remodeled them, and built churches. He told me that he had helped to build the old Holmes Memorial Church when he was a student at Holmes Bible and Missionary Institute in Greenville, SC, when N. J. Holmes was the president. My parents, prior to their marriage, were students at Holmes.
Mary Evelyn was a beautiful woman. She had dark brown curly hair like our mother, an olive complexion with dark brown eyes. As I recall she stood 5 feet 6 inches tall. Her physical body was perfect. She wore nice clothing and was a smart dresser.
My sister was a very mature young woman. She met and fell in love with R. H. McDuff and they were married when she was 17 years old on August 8, 1948 at the old First Pentecostal Holiness Church in Birmingham that was purchased from the Methodist Church. The Rev. Mr. O. N. Todd, Sr. performed their wedding ceremony. I was there.
Mary Evelyn was still in high school when she married and finished her high school education with honors after she got married.
God blessed Mary Evelyn and R. H. with five children, three boys and two girls. They all have received Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. I love all of them and their families.
R. H. was a great provider for his family. He worked for the police department in the early years of their marriage. However, we got a job at ACIPCO in data processing and retired from the company with fantastic benefits. They were strict tithers and gave offerings. They purchased time shares at PTL, and they often went there to enjoy that exciting place of spiritual renewal and environment with God-fearing people who love Jesus. Melvine and I were invited to go too. We enjoyed staying with them in a Chateau that had a fireplace. I remember one winter the snow coming down and how delightful it was to sit by glow and warmth of the fire. We should have gone more. I always felt that I should be present wherever I pastored a church. I was wrong. Pastors need time away from their church to relax, regroup, and be renewed. Those were memorial days when we did go.
I remember going the J & K Cafeteria. The food was wonderful and the deserts outstanding. Those are precious memories I have of Mary Evelyn, R. H., and Melvine and me enjoying that time together. We read Scripture, prayed, and talked about our mutual faith in Jesus Christ.
Mary Evelyn took great care of our parents in their aging years. I was away in the Air Force when my mother was placed in a nursing home. We would come home to see her as often as we could. My mother always recognized me when I came back to Birmingham to see her in the nursing home. Apparently, she had dementia and didn't know other people. At the time of her death, she was almost 83, I was on active duty at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. I was so emotionally upset that Mary Evelyn planned the funeral for our mother. I was thankful she could do that. She was an excellent planner and a steward of financial resources. She knew how to save money and to invest the financial resources God gave them. They were certainly generous with me. As a side note, R. H. taught me how to drive an automobile. He had purchased a new Jeep after his time in the Army Air Corps. It had a straight gear shift. He went with me to get my driver's license and I passed the test.
When Greg and Stephanie were children my mother died. I remember that Stephanie requested that she see my mother's feet. All the grandchildren called her Honey, and my dad, Doodah. So, we got the funeral director to open the bottom part of the casket to let Stephanie see her feet. As I recall, she had white socks on her feet. She was a tall, stately woman and was an outstanding preacher.
Mary Evelyn took care of our father too. She got him in a nursing home and he loved it. She and our father had a very special relationship. Our dad never met a stranger. When I became the pastor of the Birmingham church, Good Shepherd Church, I was my dad's pastor. I saw him often, but I wish I had gone to see him more. I should have recorded his stories. He was an excellent story teller. He had been a wild west cowboy, and broke trained horses. His father was a rancher in Denison, Texas.
When my dad died, I was there at the hospital. He was 94 and had pneumonia. The doctor and nurse were working to save his life, but couldn't. I handled his death well. I asked to go see his body to make sure he was dead. The doctor never spoke to me. I called Melvine on a pay phone at the hospital. When Melvine said, "I will call my father and tell him about your dad's death," I began to cry. I realized that I could never talk with him again in this life. That was a breakthrough for me to begin the grief process.
I was able to plan my dad's funeral, wrote a tribute to him and gave copies to the family.
I had O. N. Todd, Jr. and Ervin L. Shirey, Sr. to conduct the funeral at the funeral home. My dad loved the Pentecostal Holiness Church. I read the tribute I had written at the funeral at Brown Service Funeral Home. A number of people came to his service. We placed him in the grave next to my mother in a plot they had purchased. I have gone back to that cemetery only a few times.
My sister died May 24, 2016. She had dementia, and did not know us whenever we would visit her on our trips to see our family in Birmingham. I was privileged to conduct her funeral. Melvine sang and Greg accompanied her on the piano. A good group of our family and church friends attended the service.
So, on this St. Patrick's Day, Mary Evelyn Morgan McDuff, I honor my wonderful sister. I hope to see her in heaven.