Donte JeRon Morgan

Veteran, father of five and lover of the Atlanta Falcons, DONTE JERON MORGAN, of Burlington, died on Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020 at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Donte was born on Sept. 24, 1980 to Marvin Lee Cheeley and Karen Annette Morgan, who preceded him in death. 

Donte attended elementary and middle schools and graduated from Hugh M. Cummings, III Sr. High School in Burlington in 1999. He was the starting linebacker for the state 3A champions and won state recognition for his participation on the school’s relay and 400-meter teams. 

After high school, Donte, following the footsteps of his grandfather and uncles in the Morgan family, joined the U.S. Navy in 2003 and received an honorable discharge in 2011. Over six of his eight years of service was at sea. While in the U.S. Navy he received these commendations – Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Good Conduct Metal, National Defense Service Metal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Metal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Overseas Ribbons, Sea Service Ribbon and Hu-manitarian Ribbon. He also attended ECPI. 

Donte, known for his warm smile and quite manner, continued his love of football by coaching a number of youth football teams. His Air Cavs 8u team placed third in the country. His Facebook page is filled with comments from his players and parents sharing stories about the impact Coach Morgan made in their lives. 

The first love in his life was his children – Cedrick Jaquan, Tyler Kweli, Saniya Kelis, Bray-len Zaire and Kaiya Annette. He loved having all of them together and made sure to spend quality time with them. 

In addition to loving his children, he loved his family. He was at every family function and always had a warm hug for all the women and a handshake for the men. In a family where eve-rybody talks loud, Donte was the quiet one. But he was the one to make sure that family stayed together. 

His love for the Atlanta Falcons goes without saying. Years ago, he owned a car painted in the red and black and insignia of the Falcons with butterfly doors. 

Donte was an employee of GKN as a machine operator and distributed newspapers for the Times News. 

Surviving are his children – the loves of his life; his estranged wife Ashely; father, Marvin Cheeley; special friend Sequoia Eubanks; siblings, Tiffany Lawson, of Florida, and Gionni Matthews of Atlanta; grandparents, Thomas R. and Dorothy C. Poteat, Marion L. Harvey and Emma R. White, all of Burlington; eight uncles and three aunts, one nephew, two godsons, football and military family and friends too numerous to mention. His grandfather, Gary White, preceded him in death. 

Ironically, Donte left us on the same day that his mother died 14 years before. He was her first-born and now the two are joined with their heavenly father to live in eternity.

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