Community remembers Morgan family
Memorial fund established at First State Bank of Brownsboro
By Nathan Straus News Reporter

Shane, Lisa, Kalee and Emily Morgan

It happened near Leagueville around eight miles south of Brownsboro at 4:45 pm Wednesday, the day before Valentine's Day. The Morgan family of Berryville in their 2006 Suzuki Forenza was traveling eastbound on FM 317. Heading westbound on the same road was Jose Luis Joel Miramontes of Kemp in a 2007 Chevrolet Impala.

James Martin, highway patrol officer, said Miramontes attempted to pass a vehicle in front of him with insufficient clearance and the Impala and the Forenza collided. Inside the Morgan family Forenza was Shane Lawrence Morgan, pastor of Hilltop Baptist Church in Berryville, Lisa Morgan, fourth grade teacher at Brownsboro Intermediate, Kalee Morgan and Emily Morgan, Shane's 12-year-old and 4-year-old daughters, respectively.

The front left of the Impala struck the front left of the Forenza and the collision ends as badly as one might expect, despite Emily being the only one not wearing a seat belt.

Kalee Morgan was pronounced dead at the scene.

Rusty Quattlebaum, volunteer firefighter for the Brownsboro Volunteer Fire Department, said in his 10 years of working for a Dallas fire department and the Brownsboro Volunteer Fire Department, this accident was one of the worst he has ever seen.

BIS Memorial

"Initially it was chaos," Quattlebaum said. "One car was sideways on the road and another was in the ditch.

Martin said Shane was careflighted to East Texas Medical Center in Tyler, as was Miramontes. Emily was taken to the Children's Medical Center in Dallas and Lisa to Trinity Mother Frances in Tyler. Shane passed away as a result of his injuries at ETMC Tyler.

Lisa, Emily and Miramontes are all in fair condition, Emily having been moved to Trinity Mother Frances to be with her mother.

The Chandler and Brownsboro area community suffered a grievous loss that day, and it continues to hurt.

Paula Vogt, sixth grade teacher at Brownsboro Intermediate School, one of Kalee's teachers, said the children are still adjusting to the harsh blow.

"We are dealing with it (Kalee's death) but it is still very fresh on the students' minds," Vogt said.

On Valentine's Day Jennifer Settle, BIS principal, called all the students into the school gym to break the sad news to them.

"We were definitely shocked," Settle said. "Our hearts are broken for the Morgan family."

Settle added despite this being the first time many of the BIS students have ever experienced a friend's death, the students are doing very well.

Patricia Spence, sixth grade science teacher at BIS and another of Kalee's teachers, said her students had their own way of coping with the loss.

"My class made a sign that reads `reserved for Kalee Morgan' and they tape it to her desk at the beginning of science class," Spence said.

Spence also said she is worried Kalee's passing upsets the students this way, but feels they need to do this as a way of coping with the loss.

Vogt said Kalee was a student every teacher wants to have several of in the classroom.

"She was a people pleaser; she always tried her best and was a pleasure to teach," Vogt said.

Vogt added the school is still in shock from the tragedy.

"It just doesn't seem fair," Vogt said. "You look at the desk and it's empty. The day she was killed she had gotten new glasses. She was so excited. Then she goes home and she's gone."

Vicki York, Brownsboro Independent School District assistant superintendent, said the school is trying to carry on and do everything possible to support the family.

"This family has ties to so much of the community," York said. "One thing we've tried to do is to let the students and teachers lead the way for memorials. "

Outside of BIS, underneath the flag poles, a memorial for Kalee has been built by the BIS students. The memorial contains things such as messages, notes and flowers.

Spence said some students are collecting flowers for Kalee's funeral.

The BISD community is not the only one affected by this loss. With Shane's passing Hilltop Baptist Church has lost its youthful, energetic pastor.

Bill Gulihur, senior deacon at the church, said Hilltop Baptist is in mourning.

"We really did like Shane as our pastor," Gulihur said. "He first came to our church in 2005, and became our pastor in 2006."

Gulihur also said Shane was vibrant and God-driven, and had set forth a plan for the church before his death.

"We're not going to let Shane's vision die," Gulihur added.

While the church of around 170 works to fill the empty pulpit, it will also enact Shane's plan.

"He wanted the church to be a lighthouse for the immediate and surrounding area," Gulihur said. "He said the church meant the people and not the building, and he wanted us to evangelize in our own area; he was doing a marvelous job of that himself."

A memorial fund has been set up for the Morgans in Frankston by Hilltop Baptist Church, with a second one set up at 1st State Bank in Brownsboro by Lynetta Bragdon. The 1st State Bank account is called the Lisa and Emily Morgan Special Fund and is also available at the bank's Murchison branch and Athens branch.

The effects of the accident are felt even further; all the way to the Naval Recruiting office in Athens, where Miramontes worked as a recruiter. Miramontes had just recently started work in Athens, arriving in the area around Christmas time of 2007.

Ryan Mortley, also a Navy recruiter and Miramontes' coworker, said when he learned of Miramontes' accident he couldn't believe it.

"He's a real nice guy and it's a tragedy this happened to him," Mortley said. "We were going to go do some recruiting that day before the accident happened, but he told me he had other things to do."

Mortley said he has visited Morgan family memorials and has urged those at the recruiting station to keep the Morgans in their prayers.

"This is just a very, very horrible accident," Mortley said.

Mortley also said the Athens branch of the recruiting office is talking about donating money to the memorial fund.

York said for now the students and teachers are taking the death of Kalee and Lisa's injuries very well. A temporary substitute teacher is working with Lisa's fourth grade class and most and the school counselors are available to meet the needs of the children.

"I think they're in shock right now," York remarked. "It hasn't hit home that Kalee won't be coming back to the sixth grade."

For the time being, York said the campuses will aim to keep the daily schooling as normal as possible for the students, though it will be several weeks before a more long term substitute teacher can be hired for Lisa's class.

"The early release day helped a lot," York said of Valentine's Day, when the students were only in school for half the day.

The Morgan family and BIS has a long road to recovery. Though the shock of the accident runs deep, the students and faculty, and the whole community, are hardy people who will rise above the pain, but never forget the loss.