Tributes paid to Keith Morgan, former councillor and Raveningham estate manager, who spent decades serving community
Keith Morgan. Photo courtesy of Philip Morgan. - Credit: Archant
Tributes have been paid to a long-serving estate manager described by those who knew him as ‘a born leader’.
Keith Morgan died at the beginning of October - aged 85.
Mr Morgan worked at Raveningham Estate and Gardens for 35 years between 1962 and 1997.
Rachel Temple remembers her father as a hard working and well known individual who was “very community minded”.
She said: “He was always prepared to give himself back into the community even though he worked such long hours.”
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Mr Morgan was born in April 1932 at his grandmother’s house in Claydon, near Ipswich.
His passion for outdoor life developed while still a pupil at Stowmarket Grammar School and he spent his summers and free time helping on local farms.
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At school he showed a talent for art and excelled in hurdling and cross country running but was always destined for a life outdoors.
His first job in 1949 was picking potatoes in Surrey where he lived in a Nissen hut with Polish refugees and travelling workers in the most basic conditions.
After moving to Stanway, Essex, in 1954 he was encouraged to apply for a scholarship to agricultural college through Essex County Council.
While studying for his National Diploma of Agriculture at Writtle College, Mr Morgan served as both captain of the rugby club and president of the student union.
In 1956 he fell in love with the blue eyes of his future wife Alison, and after three years courtship the pair wed. The couple remained inseparable for the next 57 years.
Children quickly followed and in 1962, the family, now including Philip and Rachel, moved to Sycamore Farm, Raveningham, where Mr Morgan would work until his retirement.
During the 1970s he became a Rotarian, forging many lasting friendships and ultimately being awarded the Paul Harris Fellowship Award for 40 years of outstanding service.
Mr Morgan spent a lifetime supporting his local community and among other duties served as an Independent councillor for Clavering Ward on South Norfolk District Council and was co-leader of South Norfolk Council form 1991 to 1995.
He will be remembered as a man for who possessions mattered little and relationships were what counted most.
