Jim was born March 1, 1949, in Nebraska City, NE, on the banks of the storied Missouri River. He passed away at his beloved home in the mountains east of Albuquerque, NM, on October 11, 2026. His parents were Dr. Otis J. Morgans and Mrs. Marjorie (Moore) Morgans; Jim was the youngest of three Morgans children, including his beloved sisters, Dr. Carol Ann (Gregory) and Mary Kathleen (Morse).

Jim grew up following his family around the country because of his father’s position as an educator with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. When Jim was in pre-school, his family moved to Lawrence, KS, followed by moves to Albuquerque, NM; Santa Fe, NM; Kayenta, AZ; and from there, eventually, to Cherokee, NC, in the Great Smoky Mountains. At first sight of those hills, Jim felt for the first time that he was home. A piece of Jim’s heart will always live in the Great Smokies.

Jim attended Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC, where he earned bachelor’s degrees in professional writing and in English. Jim made good on his college studies in 1973 when he was hired by The Mother Earth News Magazine (“Mother,” to those who toiled there). Jim, or “Chief,” as he was known to many of his life-long confidantes, was the life of the party in Western Carolina—so much so that the band Canned Heat once stopped by his house for a party. Jim had a great time with Canned Heat, trading harmonica licks before a roaring hearth fire.

Jim eventually moved back to New Mexico where his parents had retired. He bought a fixer-upper in the ghost town and tourist destination of Madrid, NM, and planned to do artwork and print novelty T-shirts before he started working at The Record Bar in Albuquerque. He rose through the ranks and became a manager, opening three stores around the state in the 1970s and 1980s—in Albuquerque, Gallup, and Santa Fe. This job was just up Jim’s alley; Record Bar took music freaks like Jim and made business people out of them. Jim got to attend Record Bar’s convention in Hilton Head, SC, every year, where he partied and frolicked with music people. He met Stevie Ray Vaughan, James Galway, and countless others at these storied conventions; those were fun years to be sure.

Jim married his devoted wife, Diane Donaghy, in October 1988. The two enjoyed many years of camping with friends at Ladron Peak, NM, and exploring old New Mexico ghost towns. The town of Lincoln, NM, held a special place in their hearts, as they stayed there on a number of occasions. Jim and Diane were also avid Colorado Rockies fans (even if all for naught). Jim, Diane, and their daughter, Katie (Harrer) moved to the East Mountains in 1994, where Jim and Diane lived for the rest of Jim’s days.

Katie was a source of great pride and joy for Jim. He described Katie as “a stellar academic” and was always proud of her scholastic, professional, and personal achievements. One of Jim’s fondest memories of Katie’s youth was raising goats as part of a 4-H project. Jim, Diane, and Katie had big fun showing their goats at competitions around New Mexico. Katie will treasure countless memories of Dad—watching Monty Python’s Flying Circus together late into the night, spending the holiday season enjoying his extensive collection of Christmas music, and listening intently to every word of the dynamic narratives of her dad’s youth.

After a several-year stint as a reporter for the East Mountain Telegraph, Jim spent the last 10 years of his multi-faceted working life as an Education Assistant in the Special Education classroom at Kennedy Middle School. Jim described his time at Kennedy as the “hardest job I ever loved.”

During retirement, Jim enjoyed deep diving into his family history; he contributed to the book Roving Bill Aspinwall: Dispatches from a Hobo in Post-Civil War America (2022), a compilation of the life and times of Jim’s great-grandfather. Jim’s later years were further enriched by his recently discovered son, Todd Vanosdoll. He treasured building a relationship with Todd and his wife, Kristen.

One of Jim’s most cherished roles during retirement was that of Grandpa Jimmy to his darling granddaughter, Hazel. Grandpa Jimmy and Hazel enjoyed many happy hours of reading, drawing, and playing games together.

Throughout his life, Jim enjoyed a special bond with his nieces (Kelly Sullivan, Julie Harbert, and Dawn Sleeper) and nephews (Kirk Sleeper [predeceased] and Dan Morse). Uncle Jim led his nieces and nephews through all manner of hijinks, and together they participated in some adventures of wild abandon and enjoyed lots of laughs.

The Morgans-Donaghy family has always had cats; Jim will be missed by his feline companions Emma, Wyatt, and Virgil.

Jim was a life-long lover of music of many eclectic genres, dinosaurs, humor of all sorts, graphic art projects, baseball (GO ROCKIES!), and genealogy. Jim was fascinated by Civil War history, especially reading letters and diaries and listening to the music of that period. He also spent a number of years as a Civil War re-enactor. Jim had an enduring aptitude for the written word; he always loved writing stories and was an amateur poet, first published when he was a fourth grader. Jim described himself as “a misunderstood Bohemian. A beatnik without bongos or direction. A hermit amid society’s normal thoughts.”

Jim is survived by his wife, Diane; daughter, Katie; son-in-law, Robert; granddaughter, Hazel; son, Todd, and family; brothers-in-law, William Gregory, David Donaghy, and Scott Donaghy, and their families; his beloved nieces and nephews; and a long list of dear relations, friends, and pardners-in-crime. Family and friends will truly miss him.

A Celebration of Life will be held Friday, November 13, 2026, at 10:00 AM at FRENCH - LOMAS. The service will also be livestreamed.