The upbeat insurance executive who supported children with dyslexia

James “Jim” Morgan knew that part of living is dying.

He wouldn’t have chosen to go out with ALS, the progressive neurodegenerative disease, but that was his reality. The only thing he could choose was how he reacted to the diagnosis. For an ever-optimistic guy like him, there was only one real option.

“It’s not easy, but I try to stay upbeat,” he wrote in a memoir earlier this year. “I’ve got to be up. What good is it to have a bad attitude? That’s only going to make the people around me miserable, so I try to make them happy.”

That positive attitude had carried Morgan through struggles with dyslexia and a lengthy career in the insurance industry. He almost always had a wide grin that only grew bigger when he told extravagant stories of sneaking into sports games or driving down the wrong side of the road, family said.

“There were things that weren’t perfect times, but somehow he maintained such a great sense of humor and a sense of balance and a sense that God was in control, not him,” said his daughter, Cathy Morgan-Dendrinos. “There are a lot of really good people in the world and a lot of people that make a difference. But he was one in a million.”

Morgan died March 25 at his home in Timonium. He was 86.

He was born in Baltimore on May 8, 1939, the youngest of James and Frances Morgan’s three children. He and sisters, Joan and Patricia, grew up in the Pimlico neighborhood, where Morgan easily made friends and showed early signs of mischief. When he was about 5, he decided he wanted to be a trash collector, so he pulled a wagon down the street, piled up neighbors’ garbage and dumped it in his backyard — to his mother’s dismay.

His friends were a safe place during a sometimes-turbulent childhood. While his mother was supportive and loving, he had a strained relationship with his father, who struggled with alcoholism.

Morgan attended St. Ambrose Catholic School and Calvert Hall College High School. Academics never came easily to him, so he instead poured his energy into sports. The problem was his size: He was 5 feet tall and 93 pounds during his freshman year of high school. He had mixed success until his senior year, when he shot up a few inches and gained muscle. Then, he made the varsity basketball and baseball teams.

“His whole life is a story of persistence,” said Tom Morgan, his son. “He never gave up on anything.”

Morgan stayed active for the rest of his life, joining company baseball teams, learning to ski and becoming an avid golfer.

It was also during his high school years that Morgan met his wife, then Bernice Kenney, while sledding at Cylburn Park. Bernice’s dad objected to their partnership at first, famously telling his daughter, “There’s something wrong with that boy.” And while that may have been true, his children joked, Morgan won them both over with charm and humor.

“He was always up for mischief, but it was always benign,” Tom Morgan said.

After graduating from high school, Jim Morgan attended the University of Baltimore, where he played basketball, golf and baseball before earning a bachelor’s degree in 1961. He and Bernice married weeks after graduation, and he was then drafted into the U.S. Army. The couple moved to Fort Gordon in Georgia for two years.

They welcomed their first daughter, Cathy, and later three more children: Kim, Joe and Tom. Morgan was discharged in 1963 and moved the family to Baltimore County, where he spent years coaching his kids’ sports teams and taking them on vacations.

He started his insurance career at Aetna, remembering how much he enjoyed working as a salesman for Penn Mutual in college. The career put his people skills on full display, and he also saw insurance as a vehicle to protect people and give them options when bad things happened. Morgan moved to Lincoln Financial in 1969, eventually becoming CEO of the company’s Baltimore agency.

“His energy, his work ethic, was off the charts, and he also had a great imagination and a vision as to what potential existed in the workplace or even within an individual,” said George Buckless, a longtime colleague and friend.

Morgan later cofounded Heritage Financial Consultants with his mentee, Brian Gracie, and worked there until retiring in 2022.

“I really looked up to him and learned so much,” Gracie said. “He taught me how to give back and how to develop and show my faith.”

Morgan was well aware of his weaknesses, especially those stemming from dyslexia and ADHD, but he also knew he was a strong, extroverted leader, Buckless said. He delegated well and created versatile teams, he said.

“That was one thing I definitely learned from my father — surround yourself with smart people and good people,” said Joe Morgan, who followed his dad and sister Cathy into the insurance industry.

Jim Morgan earned several awards and designations throughout his career, especially from the General Agents and Managers Association. In 1997, he was inducted into the organization’s hall of fame.

His community involvement extended beyond his vocation. After three of his children were diagnosed with dyslexia — and Morgan finally found a name for his own learning challenges — he devoted the rest of his life to charting an easier path for those who struggled with reading.

He joined the board of The Jemicy School, which specializes in dyslexia education, in Owings Mills. He also sat on the board at Calvert Hall, where he helped establish the La Salle Program for students with learning differences.

He raised more than $2.5 million through the Morgan Family Foundation to support other schools and fund the Dyslexia Tutoring Program in Baltimore.

“There are a lot of people out there that wouldn’t be where they are today if it wasn’t for Jim Morgan,” said Marcy Kolodny, the former CEO of the Dyslexia Tutoring Program.

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