09/15/2026
OBITUARY: Phillip Carroll Morgan
(March 23, 1948 - September 10, 2026)
Phillip Carroll Morgan, 78, of Blanchard, passed away peacefully on September 10, 2026, in the arms of his wife and soulmate, Katie. He remained strong and in good spirits until the very end.
Phil was born March 23, 1948, in Oklahoma City to Raymond and Ann Morgan. He was preceded in death by his parents; his older brother, Allen; and his younger brother, Scott.
Phil married Katie Arnott on June 2, 1979, in Salt Lake City. Their union of almost 50 years was at the heart of the life they created together - a partnership filled with deep love, creativity, music, family, and a shared devotion to the land they called home.
He is survived by his beloved wife, Katie; his children, Sarah and her three children and grandson; Josie and her wife, JT; and Wade and his wife, Kendra, and their three daughters.
Phil lived a life shaped by words, craftsmanship, creativity, and a deep connection to his Native American heritage and the land his family called home.
As a young man, Phil worked as an editor of the Bonners Ferry Herald in Northern Idaho. He later spent many years remodeling homes and doing historical restoration in Oklahoma, becoming a skilled craftsman who could build nearly anything. Phil and his family built the home where he and Katie would share so much of their life together, on his family's original Choctaw allotment land. The farm became the home and life Phil and Katie loved deeply.
Later in life, Phil returned to academia, earning both a master's degree and doctorate in Native American literature from the University of Oklahoma. A proud Choctaw and Chickasaw man, he became an author, scholar, lecturer, lifelong poet, and grand storyteller whose work explored Native American history, literature, culture, and the Chickasaw experience.
Numerous books by Phil were published by Chickasaw Press, including Chickasaw Renaissance, Riding Out the Storm: 19th Century Chickasaw Governors and Their Intellectual Legacy, and Dynamic Chickasaw Women. His work received numerous honors, including Gold Independent Publisher Book Awards. He also co-authored Reasoning Together: The Native Critics Collective, published by the University of Oklahoma Press. Phil later turned his storytelling to historical fiction with the Anompolichi series, which included Anompolichi: The Wordmaster and The Lost River: Anompolichi II.
Phil's scholarship and storytelling reached well beyond the printed page. He traveled throughout the United States and was invited to lecture about his books, Native American literature, and history at universities and other distinguished venues. His books continue to be used as educational resources and supplemental texts at universities, allowing his knowledge and scholarship to reach new generations of students. Through the words he left behind and the students and readers who continue to encounter them, Phil's work will live on.
Phil was a lifelong poet who ultimately became a published poet. The Fork-in-the-Road Indian Poetry Store is a collection entirely of Phil's own poetry and received the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas First Book Award for Poetry.
His creativity extended well beyond the written word. A lifelong musician, Phil taught himself to play piano by ear and also played guitar and harmonica. He wrote and recorded many original songs. Music was woven throughout his life with Katie, an accomplished artist in her own right, and creativity was something they shared. Their home and life together were filled with art, music, stories, and the land they both loved.
For all that Phil accomplished, he was perhaps proudest of his family and of seeing each of his children make a life of their own. His daughter Sarah became an accountant, lending some credibility to one of Phil's favorite family sayings: "Morgans can do two things - count money and tell time." His daughter Josie built a creative life as an artist in Santa Cruz, California. His son Wade followed in his footsteps as a craftsman and renovator and now renovates homes and businesses in Key West, Florida.
And Phil himself could do considerably more than two things. He could write a poem, compose a song, play an instrument, restore an old building, build a house, study history, teach, and tell a story worth listening to. He was thoughtful with his words and understood their power. He loved his heritage, his land, his family, and above all, the life he and Katie created side by side.
He leaves behind books and poetry bearing his name, songs in his voice, a house built with his family's hands, stories that will continue to be told, and a family who loved him deeply. The life Phil created - with his words, his hands, his music, and the people he loved - is his legacy.
A private family memorial service will be held at a later date. Arrangements are under the direction of Eisenhour Funeral Home of Blanchard. Online obituary and guestbook are available at www.eisenhourfh.com.
