William Frederick Morlan, age 71, of Dexter, died at the St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau on Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013. Mr. Morlan died of renal failure and advanced bone cancer.
William Morlan was born Jan. 26, 1941, in Essex, to Elsa Clifford Morlan and Gertrude Lee Laster Morlan.
He was a graduate of Poplar Bluff High School and earned a BS degree in History from Long Beach University in Calif. He later attended Compton College, also in Calif., majoring in computers.
He served his country in the Air Force where he worked with telecommunications in Pakistan.
William was married to Mary Louise Simpson in Huntington Park, Calif., on Sept. 2, 1972. He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He received his endowments on Aug. 28, 1999, in St. Louis, Mo. On Sept. 2, 2000, in St. Louis, Mo., he was sealed to his wife.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Louise Simpson; three sons, William Fredrick of Woonsocket, R.I., Joseph Daniel of Poplar Bluff, and David Edward of Dexter; one daughter, Patricia Lee Morlan of Farmington; two brothers, Jimmy Morlan of Poplar Bluff and Bobby Morlan of Nashville, Tenn.; one sister, Sandy of Tulsa, Okla., nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
He was preceded in death by one daughter, Dorothy Louise Pelfrey and one son, Richard Jared Morlan (see obituary below); two brothers, Clifford and Charlie; and three sisters, Dorothy, Mary Jane, and Lela.
Funeral services were held Friday, Jan. 11, 2013, at 1 p.m., at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Dexter. Light refreshments were served after the services. Mr. Morlan will be inturned at the at the Missouri State Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield at a later date.