There's no stopping him now! - Policeman, soldier, businessman and now a law degree at 60

By Erica Virtue, Staff Reporter

- MICHAEL SLOLEY/ Freelance Photographer

Policeman, soldier, businessman and now a law degree at 60

MOST PEOPLE, once they hit 50 start thinking of their retirement, and think even harder about the small pension they will receive after being a foot soldier for the Government and the private sector for years ­ even decades.

Not Richard George Morgan.

On December 17 last year, two days before his 60th birthday, his lifelong dream became a reality.

"I qualified as an attorney virtually on the eve of becoming a senior citizen," the sprightly man, about 5 feet 7 inches said last week.

Mr. Morgan, a former policeman, soldier and businessman said that at age 14, he was only in second class (grade two) "because I could not speak until I was nine years. I started school late. I started at nine years old."

A tragic lisp, (now only slightly evident) forced him to keep quiet, but once he could say a few words without choking, he started attending school.

He hasn't stopped talking since.

But, why was this "old" man still studying? Was he trying to break a record?

"No. It's amazing. I wanted to do law from I was 19. But my parents were too poor for me to go to law school. So I joined the police force in 1960. I stayed for five years until 1965," he said describing how he charted the course to becoming a lawyer.

The son of Curato Hill in the parish of Clarendon, said he is the seventh of 13 children for his parents. But the six children who followed him died in infancy.

He said while he was a cop he began studying law but stopped because he could not afford it. After leaving the police force he enlisted in the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) and served in the reserve.

For most people, the route to becoming a lawyer is direct. However, Mr. Morgan's life was to take another turn.

"I started my own business - The Broadway Group of Companies, manufacturers of household supplies. We rose to be a top company with seven subsidiaries and more than 1,000 employees. I was the CEO," he said.

For several years they enjoyed good business and he even formed another company, The Segal Shirt Company and Adidas Sportswear Company in Canada.

However, Broadway buckled under what he termed "economic hardships" ­ especially after Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. However, prior to that, his business success in Jamaica, propelled him to become a director of the Jamaica Manufacturers' Association (JMA) and also president of the Association of Exporters to Canada.

After more than a decade in business, one would have thought that his love for law would have waned. Not at all.

"While I was in business, I said I was going back to law school. I re-started in 1980, but the pressure of work forced me to put it down again. And after Gilbert, I lost a lot of money and the business started to struggle, with what was taking place in the economy..." he said.

After it crumbled around him, "At age 55 I said to myself, law school is a must for me."

Mr. Morgan said he remembered calling the Students' Loan Bureau in Kingston and was told politely: "But you are not a student Sir." When he gave the definition of a student, to prove that he qualified, "the response told me clearly that I would not get a loan".

Mr. Morgan said, after some time, he began searching for schools which would accept him and was accepted at British American University School of Law.

That was how he fell in love all over again with the career he loved but which had been so elusive in his younger years.

"It was very very difficult. But, with very very hard work, I came out of the exams with grades in the high 90s. I saw some children (I call them children) scratching their heads, and I just went through," he said, obviously proud of himself.

He is not stopping there either. Now he is pursuing his Master's in Business Administration and J.D (Doctor of Jurisprudence) degrees, simultaneously.

"I wanted to do something else with my life other than wasting away like so many persons my age with a good brain."

Mr. Morgan said he was not studying to motivate young people but older ones.

The support of his wife and daughters as well as his friends and former colleagues has urged him along.

But, it is his motto, which has propelled him all the way.

"I put my faith in the supreme deity. So I say God leads me. To my left is my family, that gives me all the support. Behind me are my friends and workers who give me that propelling force. So the only way to go is the right way."

He is hoping that the right way will lead him to further academic success by next year, as he has already written his dissertation for his J.D. degree.

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