Londonderry , VT – Edward John Morawski Jr., known as Skip or Red to family and old friends and as John to many others, died August 3, 2026, at age 78 after a brief illness. A resident of Londonderry, Vermont, he was born April 12, 1948, in Greenfield, Massachusetts, the son of Edward “Red” and Shirley Morawski.
John grew up in Greenfield and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he studied hotel and restaurant management. He went on to work in that field at the Putney Inn and Sheraton Tara before his life and work increasingly drew him outdoors.
John was most at home in the natural world. He hunted and fished, gardened wherever he lived, foraged for wild foods, and developed an extensive knowledge of plants, animals, and fungi. An avid reader and largely self-taught, he became the family authority on mysterious mushrooms, routinely identifying them from photographs sent to him.
John spent portions of his younger adulthood in Alaska, including Kodiak and Fairbanks, where his work included mapping territory in the bush. Back in Vermont, he built by hand an off-grid, seven-sided cabin on family land in Grafton, its design reflecting the spiritual significance he attached to the number seven. He also built an outdoor stone sauna and was known to emerge from its heat in winter and roll in the Vermont snow.
Skiing was a lifelong love. John taught at Maple Valley, Timber Ridge, Jay Peak, and Stratton Mountain. A graceful skier and gifted instructor, he could ski backward with an ease those who watched him never forgot.
Fly-fishing became both an avocation and a profession. John tied his own flies, taught the sport, and guided anglers throughout Vermont and beyond. A longtime instructor at the Orvis Fly Fishing School in Manchester, he later established his own business, Outdoors with John Morawski. That work took him as far as Patagonia, Argentina. Those he guided adored him for his knowledge, gentle manner, and genuine pleasure in teaching.
Sharing what he knew was one of John’s defining qualities. Whether the subject was skiing, fly-fishing, mushrooms, wildlife, or something discovered in a book, he was happiest passing knowledge along. Just a week before his death, he invited his nephew Nick to visit so he could teach him to fly-fish, then gave him a rod and reel.
Over time, hunting gave way to watching wildlife, and even catch-and-release fishing eventually troubled John because he disliked hurting the fish. As arthritis limited his walks through the woods, he found other ways to remain connected to nature: swimming in a pond near home and at Lowell Lake, feeding birds, and taking evening drives along familiar back roads looking for deer and turkeys. Deeply attuned to the seasonal cycle, he understood the solstices and equinoxes as turning points of the year and sometimes sent family a simple “Happy Solstice” message.
John read widely in spirituality and philosophy and practiced meditation. Once, after meditating on his back porch, he opened his eyes to discover a black bear looking back at him. Bears became occasional visitors after discovering his birdseed, and John seemed to mind them considerably less than one might expect.
He loved books, Bob Marley, and his dogs George and Stoshu. After his death, several family members, unaware the others were doing the same, listened to Marley on their separate drives home.
John was generous, particularly with his time and knowledge, and tended to see the best in people. He would give you the shirt off his back, though chances were good the shirt had a few holes in it! He had a particular fondness for the Londonderry DPW crew, whom he called his “Road Warriors.” They called him “Uncle John,” and he brought them pizza and pies to keep them going through the night.
Above all, John was gentle and easygoing. Those closest to him can scarcely ever remember hearing him raise his voice. Though shy around people he didn’t know, those who came to know him remember him fondly. Former schoolmates still ask after him decades later.
John loved both his daughters deeply. When each was young, he shared his connection to nature with her through walks in the woods, swimming, canoeing, fishing, and countless other experiences. Ginger and Kiana carry that connection with them as one of their father’s enduring gifts.
John is survived by his daughters, Ginger Morawski of Brattleboro, Vermont, and Kiana Avlon of Providence, Rhode Island; Holly Avlon, Kiana’s mother and John’s beloved friend; his brother James Morawski of Grafton, Vermont; his sister Pam Morawski and her husband, Michael Brule, of Montague, Massachusetts; a niece, nephews, and extended family.
He was predeceased by his brother William “Billy” Morawski; his parents, Edward “Red” and Shirley Morawski; and Ginger’s mother, Alyson Hayden.
At John’s request, there will be no services. His ashes will eventually travel to some of the places that mattered most to him.
In lieu of flowers, those wishing to remember John may donate to The Nature Conservancy.
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