Ilah Morgan

Ilah Enid Morgan was born on April 15,1920 on the family farm outside of Pickett, Wisconsin, and died at age 93 on November 12, 2013 at Wolverton Glen in Ripon, Wisconsin. She was the youngest of 3 children born to Moses and Martha (Krause) Morgan. She was preceded in death by her brother and sister-in-law, Lee Edward and Nora (Davies) Morgan, and brother-in-law and sister, Erwin and Olwen Morgan Welk.

Ilah graduated from Ripon High School in 1938, attended Oshkosh Business College, and worked as a secretary for Naylors in Ripon for 8 years. Having always wanted to be a nurse, Ilah became a nurse’s aide at the Ripon Hospital and then enrolled in Evangelical Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing in Milwaukee, WI. She graduated in 1952 and returned to the staff of Ripon Hospital as a Registered Nurse. She graduated with a BS Degree from Carroll College, Waukesha in 1963. Following her interest in obstetrics, Ilah completed a specialty program in Maternal Health and Child Care in Detroit, Michigan. She served as a missionary nurse with the Presbyterian Church at 2 hospitals for Native Americans in Ganado, Arizona and Embudo, New Mexico from 1966 to 1974. Upon her return from the southwest, Ilah joined the staffs of Ripon’s Parkview Nursing Home, then Waupun Memorial Hospital and finally Juliette Manor in Berlin, retiring in 1985. Ilah was a member of the Ripon Hospital Guild and served as a volunteer for the next 4 years.

Music, church and “all things Welsh” were important in her life. Ilah was born into a musical family, played the clarinet and piano, was a member of numerous musical groups, and was a soprano soloist. Along with others, Ilah provided musical entertainment to many local community groups. Ilah was a member of Peniel Chapel near Pickett and later of Immanuel United Methodist Church in Ripon. She was active in the women’s organizations and sang in the chancel choir. She served on organizing committees for the Welsh Festival of Hymn Singing, or “Gymanfa Ganu”, at Peniel Chapel and participated in numerous local, state and national Gymanfas. She was a member of the Wisconsin State and the National Gymanfa Ganu Associations and was recognized by them for “lifelong service to Welsh culture, and in particular the promotion and protection of the traditional Welsh Gymanfa Ganu in Wisconsin.”

Ilah was a very generous, thoughtful and caring person. She was fun-loving and liked to play jokes on friends and play with the children. Although she never married, Aunt Ilah enjoyed an extended family of her brother’s and sister’s children and their families who survive her: Robert and Judith Welk of Omaha, NE; Elizabeth (Welk) and Roger Griffith of Santa Cruz, CA; Thomas and Holly Welk of Nashville, TN; Mary Gwen (Welk) and Randy Steffen of Ripon, WI; and Lynn Morgan of Pickett,WI.

A celebration of Ilah’s life will be held at Immanuel United Methodist Church, 401 W. Fond du Lac St. in Ripon on Wednesday, November 20th, 2013 with visitation beginning at 9:30 AM followed by the service at 10:30 AM. Afterward, she will be buried in Zoar Cemetery near Peniel Chapel, Pickett, WI.

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