Karen T. Morgan

Karen T. Morgan, who loved newspapers and spent her entire adult life working for them, put her final edition to bed on Saturday, June 15, 2019. Karen died suddenly and peacefully at her home in Charleston, S.C., leaving her spirit to be carried on by a daughter whom she adored, and by countless other lives she touched during her 63 years of laughing, loving, encouraging and inspiring.

Karen was neither pitcher nor batter, but she never tired of giving a simple piece of advice: “There’s no crying in baseball.” A no-nonsense editor with a keen eye and sharp intellect, she was tough, funny, independent, loyal and utterly lacking in pretension. She was the kind of journalist who always got the job done but never at the expense of her soul.

She was born May 15, 1956, in Radford, Va., a mountain girl who blazed her own trail and followed her own vision, inspiring all who were lucky enough to walk beside her. She overcome obstacles throughout her life, including many health issues in her final years, but managed – through tenacity, brains and faith in herself - to make so many of her dreams come true. A warrior against injustices of all types, she would not let even illness or injury stop her from her mission to make the world a better place.

“K.K.” as her family would call her, had a remarkable talent for making anyone she spoke with feel like the only person on Earth. She was absent of personal judgement, because she believed we were all wonderful and wanted us to feel that way, too. She was selfless and generous, ready to open her heart and hearth to anyone. A devoted mother and aunt, she also used that nurturing instinct – gentle but demanding – to mentor young colleagues who were drawn to her as a role model.

She worked for the New River Newspapers Inc. near her hometown from 1975-77, and at the Daily Press from 1978 until her retirement in 2015. She never stopped loving newspapers and print journalism.

Karen wants us to celebrate this next part of her life – only tears of laughter. Frowns are only acceptable if someone told a bad joke (she’d expect us to follow up and fix that). No pouting unless in the application of lipstick. Sing happy songs. And move on from this celebration to make the world better. That would be Karen’s next step; she would want us to make it ours, too.

She was preceded in death by her parents, John and Josephine Turpin of Radford Virginia.
She is survived by her daughter Jessica Diana (and husband Brian); sister Gaye Hampshire (and husband Bud); niece Stacey West (and husband Chuck); and nephews Christopher Saunders and Bill Hampshire.

A Celebration of Life is scheduled for 11 AM, on Saturday, June 22, 2019 at Gage Hall, Unitarian Church Fellowship, 4 Archdale St. in Charleston S.C.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests charitable contributions be made to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Planned Parenthood, or the charity of your choice.

Arrangements entrusted to McAlister-Smith Funeral Home, Charleston, 2501 Bees Ferry Road, Charleston, SC, (843) 722-8371.