Teri Morgan

Teri Lee Morgan was born on September the 11th 1956 in Concord, NC to Bill and Kat Harward.  Her family moved to Fort Walton Beach, FL when Teri was in the 4th grade.  She attended Edwins Elementary School, Bruner Middle School, and graduated from Fort Walton Beach High School in 1974.  Teri loved band and played the clarinet in high school and when she started college at PJC.  In her sophomore year, she transferred to FSU where she continued to play in the band and studied elementary education.   She graduated from FSU in 1978.  Teri worked for the department of corrections after graduation while looking for a teaching job.  One of her first teaching jobs was split between two different grades in Bainbridge, GA where she commuted from Tallahassee. She then moved to Bradenton, FL where she taught in a one room school.   In 1995, her and her family moved to Fort Walton Beach where she taught 2nd and 4th grade at Florosa Elementary School.  She quickly made lots of friends among the faculty including her future husband, Gary Keeney.  The children loved Teri and continued to visit and call her long after they had moved on from her class and Florosa.   She was an excellent writing teacher and helped all of the children to pass the Florida Writing test which was a job that all the teachers dreaded.  Teri was head of the Student Council and was involved in many school projects and activities.  Teri retired from teaching in June 2014 and to this day is one of the most missed teachers in Florosa history. 

Teri started at FSU the same year Bobby Bowden did, Bobby turned FSU into winners and Teri rarely missed a game.  She would not stand for any negative comments about the team and anytime they were behind, she would go for a different jersey or her 25-year-old FSU socks in hopes of turning the tide.  Teri loved to go to FSU Homecoming football games and she was a flag girl for the Alumni Band.  Teri eventually turned Gary into a Seminole fan, they would even bring their 3 dogs to the games. Teri loved Bobby Bowden and being from North Carolina, she loved Dale Earnhardt and Dale Jr.  She unashamedly cried when Bobby and Dale died.

Teri loved stories about good people, Gary made her watch Clint Eastwood movies like Dirty Harry but her favorite shows were the Waltons and Little House on the Prairie and her favorite song was American Pie.  Gary and her loved to travel the country visiting friends and seeing new places from Niagara Falls to the Oregon coast including their land in north Idaho.

Teri is survived by her husband Gary, her children Jacob and Jami Morgan, her brother Tony Harward, her grandchildren Amaris, Noah, Rekyah and Ava and great Granddaughter Elyse along with Gary’s children, Jeremy and Amelia and their children Atticus, Harper and Milo.

Memorial services will be Thursday, May 12, 2022 at 4:30 PM at Emerald Coast Funeral Home.  The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service.  Please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers.  

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