Angie Thompson/Senior Reporter
CNHI
TIFTON —
Webster Morgan, 65, a former City of Tifton manager and director of budgets and finance, died Friday at his home.
Morgan began his career with the City of Tifton in February 1973 as director of the city’s sanitation department. He then accepted a position as the city’s manager and after that, as the city’s director of budget and finance. After his retirement in 2001, he served as a consultant and inspector for the Tifton-Tift County water and sewer expansion project.
Jamie Cater, Tifton’s current mayor, said that he worked with Morgan while serving in the mid-'90s as a city commissioner and as vice chairman of the city commission.
“He knew the city’s business by being a business person and a manager,” Cater said. “He knew the history of the city and was very good at what he did. I know he will be sorely missed. He was a good person and a good Christian man.”
Jim Smith, Tifton’s police chief, said that Morgan hired him.
“He was a fine person,” Smith said. “He loved the City of Tifton and knew the business of the city better than anyone I had been around.”
Smith said Morgan also loved his family and didn’t “shut them out.”
“He took his little girls to work with him all the time,” Smith said. “Those little girls probably knew more about the city’s business than we did.”
Morgan graduated from Tift County High School, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and the University of West Georgia, where he received a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He served in the U.S. Air Force in Vietnam and received the U.S. Air Force Commendation Medal of Honor for meritorious service at Phu Cat Air Base in Vietnam.
Morgan was a member of Kiwanis Club, Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Municipal Association. He was also on the board of directors of the Southeastern Federal Credit Union and Diversified Enterprises. He also served on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters and coached softball for the Tift County Recreation Dept. for several years while his daughters played. He was a member of Northside Baptist Church of Tifton.
Morgan’s funeral is scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday at Northside Baptist Church.
To contact senior reporter Angie Thompson, call 382-4321.
