A Tragic Loss for the FAS

David M, Showing students at Winston Salem State the solar eclipse in 2017.

The Forsyth Astronomical Society has the extremely sad duty to announce that our longtime president David Morgan passed away suddenly and unexpectedly during the early morning hours on Monday, January 17th, at the age of 64. All of us at FAS have been shocked and devastated by this tragic news.

Dave has been a constant fixture at FAS for as long as many of us can remember. He joined FAS in 1987 and worked tirelessly to promote amateur astronomy in the region. He was one of the main members which played an instrumental role in locating and securing the club’s dark sky observing site near Pilot Mountain and later again in acquiring and setting up our permanent observatory building and equipment there. He organized innumerable public observations, and was responsible for sparking the interest in the night sky for countless young people. He was always an invaluable resource of knowledge and an observational inspiration for club members old and new alike. After many dedicated years of serving behind the scenes, he has faithfully served as FAS President for the past five years.

At this time, we do not have any information about Dave’s cause of death, nor any memorial services planned by his family. We will post any information as we receive it. In the meantime, you can see his death announcement below and post any thoughts online for his family if you wish:

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/winston-salem-nc/david-morgan-10536747

We extend our deepest condolences to Dave’s wife, his family, and his many friends.

In accordance with FAS bylaws, our Vice President Justin Nichols has assumed Dave’s duties as President until our regular election is held later this Spring. Justin will shortly send out the agenda of our next meeting scheduled for February 9. If you need to contact Justin reach out via the Contact US form in the upper menu of this page.

Sincerely,

FAS officers

Comments have been enabled for this posting if you would like to share any experiences or memories you have of David.

Edit 1/23:

This link is to the full obituary posted in the Winston-Salem Journal

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/winstonsalem/name/david-morgan-obituary?id=32368046

David M. Helping Bob P. at our solar filter making even t for the last Venus transit.

David showing a camper an early evening site at one of our Stone Mountain observations.

David relaxing/recovering after setting up his 16″ telescope at a Stone Mountain observation.

David showing a student a WSSU the projection effect of the eclipse though the holes in the leaves of the trees.

David and fellow members at our holiday gathering 2018.

David waiting for folks to come in for our annual telescope/astronomy workshop

David and others waiting for the sun to go down at one of our occasional excursions to Daughton Park.

David using something as simple as a household colander to show a projection method for viewing a solar eclipse. When spotted he was jokingly accused of doing some panhandling fund raising. WSSU solar eclipse observation 2017.