Rev. Vaughn Jefferson Michael, Jr., M.Div., PHD, 84, of Morgantown, passed away on September 19, 2018, at J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital lovingly surrounded by family.
Vaughn was born December 10, 1933, in Morgantown, a son of the late Sarah Louise Swindler and Vaughn Jefferson Michael, Sr.
He graduated from Morgantown High School, started at WVU then transferred to West Virginia Wesleyan, where he graduated with a BA in psychology and religion. He then attended Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington. DC, receiving his Master of Divinity and took an assignment as Associate Pastor at First United Methodist Church in Clarksburg.
He founded and directed one of the first pastoral counseling centers in West Virginia. He continued his clinical training and served as an Assistant Supervisor of Clinical Pastoral Education at the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester Minn. He earned a Master Degree from University of Dubuque in Pastoral Psychology. In 1993, he earned a Doctor of Ministry from Columbia Theological Seminary. Throughout the years Vaughn served on numerous National Disaster Response teams. He was also one of the first Clinical Pastor Educators in West Virginia.
Throughout his career he served many people as either a pastor or Director of Pastoral Care at the following hospitals, Union Protestant Hospital, in Clarksburg, Weston State Hospita,l in Weston, Cabell Huntington Hospital, in Huntington, St. Joseph Hospital, in Parkersburg, and finally West Virginia University Hospital/ J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital, in Morgantown. Vaughn retired in 1999.
Upon retirement he became a ski instructor at Timberline, in Canaan Valley and an avid golfer (twice getting a hole in one). Throughout his career and retirement he was very active in the United Methodist Church and Church World Service serving and chairing committees for disaster response training, health and wellness education and clinical pastoral education.
Vaughn loved to read, write, take walks, garden, and play golf. Vaughn was also a lifelong WVU football and basketball fan. Vaughn will always be remembered as a caring soul with a gift of wisdom and counsel, a quick sense of humor and compassionate heart. Above all, Vaughn is remembered for his enduring Faith in God’s love and salvation and his gift in sharing this hope with others, which served as the source of his compassion.
He was preceded in death by his loving wife of 58 years, Elizabeth Rehn Michael; his uncle, Harold Swindler and his aunt, Genevieve Swindler.
He is survived by his three daughters and sons-in-law, Miki and Chuck Waring, of Mount Pleasant, S.C., Monica and Doug Warden, of Morgantown, Miriam and Art Beyer, of Kill Devil’s Hill, N.C.; and his four sisters and brothers-in-law, Suzie Davis (Oris), of Mercersburg, Md., Terry Lash (Chuck), of Bobtown, Pa., Tommy McClintic (Wayne), of Lakeland, Fla. and Linda Fletcher (Paul), of Kingwood; his seven grandchildren, Ryan and Alec (Waring), Michael, Leia, Elissa and Lindsey (Warden), and Kira Hicks; plus numerous nieces and nephews.
His last fulfilled request was to have his body donated to West Virginia University School of Medicine; and jokingly said, “It’s the only way I’m going to get into medical school.”
A Memorial Celebration will be held at Suncrest United Methodist Church, 479 Van Voorhis Rd., Morgantow, at 2 p.m. on Sunday, September 23.
In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Suncrest UMC, memo to The Caring Place, Vaughn Michael.
The family would like to give special thanks to his longtime caregiver, Julia Fowler, and WV Caring Hospice Services.
