AprIl 3-9, 1
Advocate for the elderly is repayi 9 deb
By KrIstin Hay
SOlTIll HAYEN - "I owe my
life to the elderly, says 84-year
old Josephine Morgan of
Covert. "They &aYe me ck my
1!� "
we.
For the 15 years, Morgan
has been repaying that debt.
She's an dvocate for the e der
ly," aid Jame Thompson,
director of Title V d Senior
Emp oyment t the Area Agen
cy on Aging. She m es an im
p ct herever he goe ., he
dded
Morgan is an older worker
pecialist at the South Haven,
Michigan Employment Security
. Commission office. She's reaDy
concerned about the elderly,"
id 65-year-old Olivia Jones of
Bangor. "If you want to' k,
e'll really help you.. J ODeS is
one of the hundreds of people
whom Morgan has placed in
Jobs in the ten years.
Morgan identifie with the
people she assists. "I was help
less once myself," she said At
ase 66, Morgan was injured in a
serious car accident. "They sent
me home to die," she said. For
three years, she was confined to
a wheelchair, slipping deeper
into despair everyday. "One day
I just made up my mind that I
wasn't going to stay in that chair
and I got up. Once I started
moving, I didn't stop."
When she looked around her
community, he noticed that
some of her elderly neighbors
couldn't clean their yards or
their homes. She persuaded
Covert Township Supervisor
JerrySarno to hire agile young
worker to help the elderly wash
windows and rank leave . Sarno
hired Morgan to supervise the
workers. She showed real inter
e t in the 'community, said
Sarno. "She's very energetic and
has done a lot for Covert citizens
and other people in the county."
Her second project ws estab
lishing the first nutrition site in'
Van Buren County at the Covert
Civic Center with the help of the
Area Agency on Aging.
Helping to obtain bus service
for Van Buren County senior
citizens was her greatest
achievement, Morgan said. She
happened to attend a meeting in
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district.
I "Everybody in Be ton Har
bor knew me as the nightclub
minister," she said. Morgan es
tablished her church in a night
club that she rented for S6 a Sun
day. "Saturday night they'd
. dance and drink and throw dice,
and Sunday we'd hold church,"
said Morgan. "I put drapes over
the bar and made a pulpit out of
the bandstand." She remembers
those days fondly. "Those were
some of the happiest days of my
life," she said. But she h d to
crifice lot for er m.in.istry_.
Her h d gav her an ul
timatum, him or her ministry.
She chose ber church.
"Today it's worth it,· she said.
"My work in Benton Harbor
helped me get where I am
today."
She has traveled to
Washington any times to dis
cuss issues . legislato that
affect the elderly. In 1984, she
received a citation from the
Michigan Commission on Ser
vice to the Aging for her work
with the MESC. In 1986, she was
honored by the Concerned
Blac Women and the South
Haven BI ck Leadership
Society.
Her years of volunteer work
_:....::.:;�:.::.....:.:.�====�=!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:::=��:=;�==���������; 'taught her where to go to get
help for people. But Morgan
says her job at MESC has been
educational. "It opened the doo
forme to learn everything I
know," she id,
Morgan ys the elderly need
good ousing and to be with
younger people. "Putting old
folks together in one place isn't
good," she said. "We need to put
the old and young together so
they can help each other."
Still on the move, Morgan
walks with a cane now and
wheels around conventions in
her wheelchair. "I didn't know I
was old until thi year when I
couldn't see," she said. Cataracts
in both eyes threatened her
sight. She recently rebounded
from eye surgery and is hac at
her desk.
She was the nin h of 12
children and grew up in Mobile,
AJabama. "My famiJywas poor,"
she said. "I tell children I could
have been anything but what I
am. At 16, she married and
mover. to Chicago to fmd work.
"I could have gone to Chicago
and gotten lost," she aid. In
stead, she went to chool and
learned dress designing and
later worked for the U.S. Postal..
ervice. Heeding her mother'
advice aved- her, she said.
"Mother told me always ork for
what you want."
My commitment to God is to
help people," said Morgan. "It's
music to my ear ev ry time
someone calls to say they got
that job. I wouldn't change any
thing," he aid. "I've h d a
beautiful life."
I .Insing where lal make were
discussing transpOrtation. Mor
gan asked why her county didn't
have buses. She· told no one
had asked for them. "Well, "I'm
. ng," she said. The county
received a $20,000 grant and two
buses which has grown to a fleet
of seven.
In 1981 Morgan as . ap
pointed as an advisor to the
White House Conference 0
Aging. She said her second most
important ccomplishment was
organjzing Senior Activities Inc.
in Covert, group of older
workers who- made and sold
crafts. "The idea to help
senior citizens help themselves,"
she said.
Por many years, Morgan
worke<t as a volunteer helping
people obtain food, shelter and
eat. She visited inmates in the
Berrien County Jail as a volun
.teer for the Forgotten Man
program and gave time to Van
Buren cOunty Social Services .
The groundwork for
Morgan's tireless service to the
poor and the elderly was laid
years ago when she was a mini
ster in Benton Harbor's redlight
VIRGIL HULL
VlrgH Hull, 50, of 617 Plpeetone, Ben
ton Harbor, died se, ch 26 at
lJrWetIfty of ChicIIgo HoepItaI a
long
Th. funeral held Wed., March 30
at Second Bapti O'aurch, Benton
Harbor. Burial In CryItaJ Springa
Ce ry. Robbin Brothera Funeral
Home, Benton Harbor In charge
of an ...
Mr. Hull born � b. 28. 1938, In
Benton Hatbof:auMYora lncIud.:' hlf.
, Emma; four daug - Chris-
tina JohnlOn and Hu ,Grand
Rapids, and Cartetta Hu and SprIng
Sh ,both of Benton Harbor; one'
ton, Led Hu, ned th '
Almy at Fort Jacklon, S.C.; four
grandchlldr.n; bfotheq - AIV.
Hull of Benton tiM)or, Jlnwnulh
Hull, of . Lou , Mo., eor.y Bar
of Ind ,Ind.,
of Detroit and Cecil
and�..· I � LeOna
. an City, Ind.,
Benton Harbo-r, and
Johnaon of Creek.
He preoeded In by a 10ft.
Cartton,ln 1972.
MOlby Yarbrough, n, died Sun.,
March 27 at hi home In Benton Har·
bor.
The fu r be held Mon., April.
at Communi Church of God In
Chrllt, Benton Rarbor. Bur '11 be in
CryItaJ Spring Cemetery. Robbin
Brotherl Funer Home, Benton Har
bOr il in charge of anangements.
Mr. Yarbrough w born Dec. 15,
,1910, In Gr nvUI., •. He w •
ret red New York Centra.
RaUro IUMvora Include: h wife,
Letha; daugh • Glade Bow·
man and Diane Rutter, both of Benton
Harbor, Betty Madi.on of Inglewood,
Calif., Lyneva 0aJt0n and Sandra WlI
IOn, both of Detroit; eight eonl .
Bobby of Detroit, Nby of Chicago,
Robert of Kalamazoo, David of s.rt.
ing htI, ch., and Chattel • •
." Glen, 'ch and Flchatd, lof
Harbor; two
Yatbrough of Hugh , Ark., and EllIe
Tur of Detroit; two bro erl· KMm
of Lo. Angel .. , and Richard of
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Re • G. Ben u
Sup Muskqon Distric:
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11:30 .""''1a Wramtlla
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7:30 pm _... wa. ...
Central United'
et odist
Churc
and & Sea ay'
(Downiown }Auskegon)
•
·712-6545
Dr. Lynn DeMos
v. Jerry Hagan
I"L._.--L SerWea-...lOO
ii :::1 ... 0.
Qwda". nJU
Hug , Ark.; 37 grandchUdren; and
14 great-grandchildren.
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