Funeral services for Emily Nella Dean Williams McLaughlin Morgenstern, 79, will be Saturday, June 25, 2016, at 1 p.m. with the Rev. Robert Partridge officiating. The service will be held at Fairview Baptist Church on Hwy 278 in Addison, Alabama, her birthplace. Her ashes will be interred following the services at the cemetery at Fairview Baptist Church.
Mrs. Morgenstern, died Tuesday, June 14, 2016. Nella “Williams” was born in Addison but moved to Tuscumbia, Alabama as a young girl. She completed her elementary and high school there where she later married Edward McLaughin, who preceded her in death in 2013, and together they had three children, Charlene, Pamela and Michael. They divorced in 1966 but remained friends throughout their lives. Mrs. Morgenstern moved to Hartselle, Alabama in 1971 to further her career. In 1976, she married Eric Uwe Morgenstern, a German NATO officer stationed in Huntsville, and through the marriage added a beautiful two year old daughter to her life named Katja. Later, the family moved to Germany where Nella enjoyed her life-long dream of traveling in Europe. After several years, the family returned to the states and Nella returned to school to earn a B.A. in History at UNA. She was offered a full scholarship at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, but she was unable to accept due to a family illness. Nella and family then moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where she continued her education earning a Master’s in Counseling from The Citadel. Nella worked 16 years as an inpatient drug and alcohol counselor and later opened her own private practice for a brief while. Mrs. Morgenstern returned to her home in Alabama in 2013 to be closer to family. Nella enjoyed traveling, designing, decorating, camping, and gardening. She was a talented self- taught artist and painter, read voraciously, and loved discussing and debating philosophy and politics.
She was preceded in death by her sister, Faye Williams Bailey; her brothers, Ray Williams and Jackie Williams; and her parents, Mamie Guyton and Leroy Williams.
Survivors include her husband, Eric Morgenstern; her children, Charlene, Pamela, Michael, and Katja; her grandson, Sean Kilpatrick; and four great- grandchildren, Bradyn and Lexi Kilpatrick and Meghan and John Johnson; her beloved sister, Dura Buccellato; and her many nieces and nephews; as well as her cousin, Shirley Winfrey and her family. The loss of her love in the lives of those who loved her is irreplaceable, but she lives on in all who knew and loved her.
The family has requested that any flower offering be delivered to 3012 Concord Lane, Decatur, Alabama.
