Talk Morgan Forums Thread Like Summary - John Sheally II

A big loss to the Morgan world. The screen shot below is from his Facebook fan page

So very sad to learn of John's passing. We corresponded a lot in the 70/80s when I was editing the MSCC monthly magazine, Miscellany, which I introduced in 1976. John sent articles and those photos of your ladies which I featured on the rear cover, all very well received by our members. I first met him in 1979 when I attended the Luray meeting in Virginia. The following year he came over to the UK for our big meeting. He returned to the States having purchased my "lightweight" Morgan 4'4 special. John, you will be sadly missed in the Morgan world. Chas Smith, Vice President MSCC.

Coop. Autocorrect. Thanks

That sounds ominous. 🙂 There are many internet searches going on at the moment, using "Sheally" as its key word. This is a public forum and its posts appear on each of those searches. Allow me to explain. You and I, as venerable as we think we are, are too young to remember what Sheally did in his days of glory. He was almost a generation before us. Historians invariably gloss over the real Morgan story. I will try to explain the Sheally era in as few words as possible. My sources are pint-derived, rather before all these people passed.

Despite constructed perceptions, Peter Morgan went through many trials as owner. His father passed in 1957, leaving an Estate divided equally among the many siblings, merely indicating that his only son, Peter, would run the Company. But his (older) sisters' husbands had no confidence in PM to do so. Peter was forced to buy all his sisters out simultaneously, leaving him far less-than-cash-flush by the 60s. Sadly, at the same time, the UK had largely lost interest in Morgans, expressed by the French refusing the first attempt of a Morgan to enter LeMans. They all elt the car was too old fashioned. A large loan from his then wife culminated in PM's loss of his sole majority and the decisions that lead to the 2019 sale. However, Morgans remained popular overseas. Some years the USA took as much as 80-90% of Morgan production.

During these dire days, a brash and bizarre young fellow appeared. A born promoter. An American. He was dubbed "Mr. Morgan" on both sides of the Atlantic. He won every race he entered. He restored Morgans to a level never seen before, albeit in the American style. He was always in the news and he put Morgans there constantly as well. This was absolutely needed. PM was anything but a showman. Far too elegant for that!. Sheally especially, and others were key until the time Peter came up with the Plus 8 at the end of the 1960s, despite the closure of the American market for many years (1971-1976) until the Bill Fink modifications. The USA never again achieved the same sales importance until 2005/6.

John would do bizarre things to promote mogs, anything really. He wrote books, chromed brake drums and one of the most famous promotions, which he wrote of in his book Pride of the British, was to go from ocean to ocean in his Super Sports Three Wheeler. He began near his home in Suffolk Virginia and when he met the crowd on the West side in California, he symbolically shot his steed through the engine which provoked even more Media attention! That one trip humbles any such trek in history. I am sure it inspire Charles Morgan's similar trek from Chicago in a M3W with his wife...to successfully publicize THAT model 50 years later. The younger Mr. Morgan must have heard of this Sheally feat ALL his life! You have your Morgan because of John Sheally, or at least PM thought so. The model industry even made 1000s of replicas of it which sit on mantels around the world.

Most people live long past the days of their maximum glory, which should not dim the glory but too often does.

gmg

P.S. That trike, which I had the honor of driving, went though many iterations as John often restored it, most significantly when it burned at one time

John's obituary...

John's obituary

"Obituary

Award winning photojournalist John H. Sheally II, at 80 years old, closed the book on his lengthy career at 3:56 am, Saturday, December 2, 2023.


The gift of a Brownie camera, when he was 8 years old, inspired his dream of capturing images of breaking news, personalities, sports and the beauty of the world around him. He was still in Hopewell High School in Hopewell, Virginia, when he shot photos for the local newspaper.


After a five-year enlistment as an aerial photographer in the U. S Navy, John returned home to Hopewell, where he met and married Donna Shelton – the beginning of a 52-year partnership – and where their daughter, Kate, was born.


He also launched a career with the Progress Index newspaper in Petersburg, Virginia, earning recognition for his photo coverage of local news as well as the political scene in Richmond. His success there led him to join the staff of The Virginian-Pilot newspaper where he and his camera were a familiar sight across southeast Virginia and North Carolina. “You can’t find good stories sitting in the newsroom,” was his motto.


Early in life John discovered Morgan sports cars and became an internationally recognized expert on the British marque, publishing several books about Morgans. He owned and raced a medley of classic Morgans for 40 years, traveling to the competitions in his restored black 1939 Chevrolet grain bed truck/turned race car hauler.


He retired from The Virginian-Pilot in 2008 and, with writer Phyllis Speidell, created and published more than a score of books chronicling the history and people of greater Hampton Roads. Their work also appeared frequently in numerous regional and national magazines. He was proud of “Preserving the history of Hampton Roads, one book at a time.”


Outshining all his interests and accomplishments, however, was his love for his family, friends and animals of all species. They were the key to his real happiness in life.


He was predeceased by his parents Katharine and John H. Sheally Sr. and his beloved wife, Donna Sheally. John is survived by their daughter Donna Kate Smellie and son-in-law Michael Sean Smellie, their son Henry and their daughter Kristin and her three children – Ben, Elysia and Darith Lee. He is also survived by his sister and brother-in-law Kathy and Brady Rackley of Athens, Georgia and their sons - Brady Lee and John Brant Rackley.


John was a good man with a big heart, positive mind, endless enthusiasm and lively sense of humor that leave his family and friends with an abundance of fond memories and happy stories.


John was a member of Bible World Church in Chesapeake.


The family will receive friends at Bible World Church on Thursday, Dec. 14, from 11 AM to 12 PM. His funeral service will begin at 12 noon at the church. Burial with military honors will be on Friday, Dec. 15 at 3 PM at Albert G. Horton, Jr. Veterans Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations to the church will be appreciated and may be sent to Bible World, 600 Happy Acres Road, Chesapeake, VA 23323. (757) 487 9503"

Out of respect to Mr Sheally II, I have separated the discussion unrelated to his passing to another thread.

Please may I ask that this topic remains as per the original intent, which is to pay respects to Mr Sheally II and to pass along heartfelt condolences to his family and close friends.