June Morgan River Sanctuary
The June Morgan River Sanctuary is located approximately 1 mile downriver,
on the right hand bank of the beautiful Little Miami River as you paddle from Fort Ancient State Park to Morgan’s Riverside Campground & Cabins. The Morgan family has donated 20 acres of the original Farm for a sanctuary in her honor and as a tribute to her love of the river that her life and families revolved around. A section of the Silver Moccasin hiking trail goes next to the sanctuary making it accessible to hikers as well as canoers. June Morgan’s River Sanctuary is intended to provide a place of rest and reflection for paddlers and hikers on the Little Miami River.
June Morgan, caretaker of Little Miami
Family's canoe livery grew from love of great outdoors
BY JAY POPE | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
June Morgan of Morrow wore wildflowers in her hair when she and her husband guided Greater
Cincinnati boys on camping and canoe trips in the late 1950s. 
Hundreds of boys knew her as"Blooming Flower." Later, the couple would start Morgan's Canoe Livery on the Little Miami River
in Fort Ancient, the first of several canoeing centers in the area. The business began with eight canoes.
"We never retired," said her husband, Robert W. Morgan. "She was the CEO of this business all the way along."
Mrs. Morgan, 72, died Thursday at Jewish Hospital in Kenwood. She was diagnosed with lymphoma
17 days earlier. Born in Muncie, Ind., Mrs. Morgan's family moved to the area before she was in grade
school. She graduated from Western Hills High School in 1952 and attended Miami University in Oxford
with her high school sweetheart. They married in 1954 and were parents of twin boys within a year.
Mrs. Morgan and her husband started "Canoe Trails" during the summers to supplement Mr. Morgan's
$2,900 annual income as a teacher at Sycamore High School. These trips for teenage boys often lasted
two weeks across Canada, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia and Tennessee. Mrs. Morgan would go on
at least one trip a year and was famous for her cooking, especially yeast doughnuts she would let rise
on the side of a hot canoe.
After a few years, the Morgan’s bought a farm beside the Little Miami River in Morrow. The 1928
house was a shack with no electricity or running water and the river was a dumping ground. "People
thought the river was a place to get rid of their garbage," said Mr. Morgan. The Morgan’s saw the potential,
though. For a number of years, they wouldn't charge for canoe rentals to those who would collect a bag
of trash.
Mrs. Morgan, an active, nature-based 4H leader throughout her life, worked toward designating
the Little Miami River as a National Wild and Scenic River. She served on the advisory board of
Little Miami Inc., a nonprofit conservation organization, and a s president of one of its divisions.
With help from George Hinkle, Skeets Fred and Flack Douglas, politicians were shown the beauty
and potential of the Little Miami from cookouts at the Morgan farm. She was eventually given a conservation
award by Ohio Gov. Richard F. Celeste.
The old rustic house where they lived gained an addition thanks to Mrs. Morgan's ingenuity.
Mr. Morgan recounted how his wife had pestered him for an addition to the house in the late 1960s
to make space for their five sons. One day he spotted an ad in the paper for barn removal - with their
phone number. He ended up taking apart barns for people who responded to Mrs. Morgan's ad and
built an addition to their home with the wood. They continued to live in the house May through November
each year.
In 1970, Mrs. Morgan was chosen by Family Circle magazine as "Homemaker of the Year."
"She had a great quote," said Mr. Morgan. " 'I'm not much of a housekeeper, but I'm a good homemaker.' "And in the late 1990s, two trucks drove up to the farm. HGTV stayed for a week to film the Morgan’s for a
national half-hour program, "The Good Life."
By this time, their sons had taken over much of the family business, allowing the couple to travel across the Florida Everglades and Louisiana, where Bob could fish and June could paint nature scenes.
In 1999, the Morgans opened Morgan's Jungle Lodge on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. Mrs. Morgan thought this was paradise, so they built the Eco-lodge, consisting of six solar-powered cabanas on the foundations of a church in a place of great biological diversity. They returned during winter months each year, opening their doors to the public.
Besides her husband, survivors include sons, Greg of Brookville, Ind., Gary of Hyde Park, Dirk of Morrow, Rob of West Chester and Randy Morgan of Morrow; and 15 grandchildren.
Donations can be made to
The June Morgan River Sanctuary Fund
c/o LCNB
2 N. Broadway
Lebanon, OH 45036.