Premier Laurel of the Society succumbs to cancer. Her Ladyship Sibylla Timida de Cantabria (Loretta Morgan) has asked me to inform everyone of the passing of her beloved husband, Master Alphonso de Castile (Ron Morgan). He died at their home, here in Flagstaff, AZ at 2:00pm today, Wednesday, July 23, 2003. He had been diagnosed last February with cancer of the brain, chest & bone.

As many of you know, Master Alphonso was the Premier Laurel within the SCA, having received that honor on Jan. 24, 1968 in the Kingdom of the West, and then received his Patent of Arms in that Kingdom on Jan. 4, 1969. We here in the Kingdom of Atenveldt, and more closely, here in the Barony of Ered Sul have long been blessed with his talent, and his sharing of The Dreame. He received the Queens Grace of Atenveldt on June 25, 1995, and then the Esprit de Soleil on July 27, 1996. His long residence and active participation within Ered Sul was very influential in helping us to attain The Dreame of becoming a Barony. We will all miss him greatly.

HL Sibylla is currently at home and is in the company of her mother. She has asked that she not receive phone calls right away. Please give her some time to rest tonight, and to recover a bit.

Memorial Service plans for Master Alphonso are yet to be confirmed; tho it is likely to be held at Elk's Lodge here in Flagstaff. It is also likely that there will be a Memorial Service at Highlands War this coming weekend for his SCA family. When information is available, I will certainly pass that on as quickly as I may.

Master Alphonso, I am honored to have known you, and to have worked with you.

In humble service,
Lady Morgan O'Cinneide the Celt

Editor's note: There is some question as to the correct spelling of Master Alfonso's SCA name. We've been informed by a reliable source that it is "Alfonso", so that is the way it appears in our story headline, but Lady Morgan's directly-quoted words stand. As in the Middle Ages, it is possible that multiple spellings are correct. --Justin