Charles L. Morgan

CLARKSVILLE – Charles Linscott Morgan, 91, of Clarksville, died peacefully in his sleep from the life-long effects of diabetes on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Morrison in Whitefield, N.H. He was born on July 5, 1932, in Elizabeth, N.J., a son of Charles P. and Jeane (Keiser) Morgan. His family relocated to Maine, and he later moved to New Hampshire after being honorably discharged from the Navy in 1954. He was a long-time resident on Ben Young Hill in Clarksville. Charley (or Uncle Charley, K1GZL, to his radio buddies), was known world-wide for his amateur radio hobby and other exploits, including north country weather tracking and reporting for Channel 8 News of Maine, award-winning radio contesting, creation and operation of the “Trans-Antarctic Radiophone Network,” and maintaining contacts with his many friends on four continents: North America, Europe, South America, and Australia. He was an advocate of classical music, attending and supporting the NH Music Festival in Plymouth for many years, and he was a consistent contributor to several Internet amateur radio blogs, advocating for, supporting, and advancing the hobby. Charley's father, a lawyer for the FBI, and his mother, who he took care of in Clarksville until her passing, predeceased him. He is survived by his younger brother, James P. Morgan and family of Austin, Tex. In the Navy, Charley worked for the U.S. intelligence services, both in Hawaii and aboard the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany. When pressed about what he did in the service, he would say with a chuckle and twinkle in his eye, “I was a SPY!” During the Korean conflict, the navy monitored radio traffic along the Pacific rim, keeping track of messages between China, Korea, and the Soviet Union, which were sent in Morse code. With his amateur radio background, Charley was a natural for monitoring such foreign military messages, and he worked with the group tracking these communications and passed them back to the CIA. When he left the service and came back home, Charley discovered that the U.S. was maintaining bases in multiple places in Antarctica. At the time, people stationed there were locked in by the weather without being able to talk to home for long periods of time. Using the facilities available to him as a radio amateur, he was able to establish radio-telephone links through the U.S. telephone system so that people could talk to their families back in the U.S. He founded a group of like-minded amateurs to provide this service and thus the “Trans-Antarctic Radiophone Network” was born. Until his passing, Charley had been active on the amateur radio bands, talking to his many friends throughout the world. All report that he will be sorely missed in their nightly conversations. “RIP Charley K1GZL, SK (silent key).” There are no public services scheduled. Charley will be privately interred in the family plot in the Perry Cemetery in Clarksville. Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of Jenkins & Newman Funeral Home in Colebrook.

Charles L. Morgan

July 5, 1932 - March 22, 2024