John Morgan lived, died to help others
The news was tragic, but came as no surprise. John Morgan, while fishing at the northern end of Lake Coleridge in Canterbury, lost his footing while rushing to rescue a fellow fisherman on August 30.
He failed to resurface and police divers recovered the 60-year-old’s body from the cold, deep lake a day later.
Search and rescue coordinator Phil Simmonds said the fisherman got himself out of trouble, but John carried on to help him.
Upon hearing the news her husband died helping someone else, Anna Enoka Morgan said that sounded like John.
‘‘Hero is a big word, I don’t know about that – if people want to perceive him that way, that’s fine, but he was just being John,’’ she said.
Despite her hesitation to call her lost husband a hero, almost 1000 people turned out to his funeral at St Gregorys Catholic Church in Bishopdale on September 6.
Huge swaths of the crowd – many standing solemnly outside the church as there was no room inside – were young people whose lives were touched by John’s various community activities, including Scouts and church work.
‘‘It was pretty cool to know that people respected him and what he had achieved in life,’’ Anna said.
A lifelong Scout, John helped generations of Christchurch youth grow and learn essential life skills.
‘‘He was a Scout leader, Scout advisor and was with the Rover Scouts. He also did a lot of work with special needs Scouts,’’ Anna said.
Alongside working with Scouts, John was heavily involved with the Catholic church.
Born into a religious family on February 13, 1957, in the Christchurch suburb of Dallington, John remained an ardent servant throughout his life.
The family moved to New Brighton about 1984, where John found his home.
He met fellow Rover Scout Anna Enoka soon after and the pair married in Karamea on February 7, 1987.
‘‘His family was strongly involved in St Pauls in Dallington, and when the family moved to New Brighton he became involved in St Mary’s,’’ Anna said.
John was a Catholic Parish of Christchurch East councillor for more than 12 years.
Fellow parish councillor Sue Malloch said John would be missed ‘‘for his presence’’.
‘‘He was a person who always held out his hand, whenever anyone needed something, John was there,’’ she said.
He worked as an electrical technician for Radio Television Services for more than a decade, before moving to ECL Group in a similar role.
As accounts of John’s personality were gathered, a picture of a kind and selfless man was formed.
John pulled away from Scouts in recent years, filling his spare time with fishing.
‘‘He fished as much as possible,’’ Anna said.
‘‘Lake Coleridge was a favourite spot. He would pop out to the Waimakariri in the summer. Often he would jump in his little red truck and pop on up the Karamea River to find a good spot.’’
On August 30, a day before his fishing licence expired, John decided to go for ‘‘one last fish’’ at Lake Coleridge.
‘‘He must have arrived no later than 2pm or 3pm that Wednesday,’’ Anna said.
‘‘A man on the other side of the river got into difficulty and called out for help, so John went to help him.
‘‘I’m not quite sure what happened after that [but] he did what he would have done without hesitation.’’
Echoing her late husband’s perspective, Anna said she was ‘‘just very pleased’’ the other man made it home.
‘‘One day we would like to speak to him and just tell him how pleased we are that he is with his family,’’ she said.
‘‘That is how John would have wanted it.’’
John is survived by his wife, Anna Enoka Morgan, and his four children, Katrina, Samuel, Olivia and Gabrielle.