2008
Douglas Morgan
"It is a great blessing to receive the award in Joe's honor. Regretfully, I never had the chance to personally meet Joe when he visited last year. From the many memories shared with me from friends and professors, Joe lived a life full of love and compassion, giving all of himself to those around him. When I reflect on the impact and significance Joseph P. Veasey has on everyone he encountered, I can only aspire to live as he did and give of myself unconditionally. I look forward to the day when Joe and I can finally meet in Glory. To know that Heaven contains a soul like Joe inspires me to live a closer walk with our Savior Jesus Christ. I was blessed to have a wonderful and compassionate single mother who instilled in me the Word of God and set an example of Christ in my life. Her example, and my own relationship with Christ, have been the driving forces throughout the challenges in my life. I was raised with an unrelenting will to never give up and to always "work" my faith when times seemed unbearable or when I fell short of meeting the mark. Spending most of my summers growing up working in the building trades with my grandfather and uncles, I learned the value of hard work and the joy of a task well completed. I looked at these men in my life and admired their fervor, but I felt that I had a different calling. Graduating from Hillsboro High School in '98, I was reluctant to start college without knowing exactly what I wanted to do in life and started work at an automotive supply factory. Over the next two years I worked my way up to a manufacturing engineer and spent another four years there exploring many avenues in robotics, computer programming, and machinery. I was still not satisfied with my line of work. I would catch myself drawing floor plans on napkins and envisioning the technologies I was working with fused into building technologies. One day it just kind of clicked, I want to be an architect. So I sold my house, quit my job, and gave up the life I had to start afresh at Miami University in architecture. I want to use everything I've been blessed with to help others, if I can design one thing to help someone live a fuller life or inspire them to overcome then my time on Earth has been well spent, just as Joe's. I see architecture and design as a way to give back to my family, inspire those around me, and to ease the challenges of those less fortunate than myself. I am overwhelmed by the path God has laid for me in that I can do what I love while giving to others. I'm sure Joe felt the same way. When first learning of the award, I sought to find out as much as I could about this amazing young man, the way he lived, the way he loved, the way he truly inspires everyone he encountered. It is my heartfelt desire to live life following the legacy Joe Veasey has given to each and every one of us. He will never be forgotten or cease to inspire the hearts of others."
