Obituary of Marjorie Lionne Morelli

Marjorie Lionne (Crowe) Morelli was born on July 3, 1920, twenty-five miles north of Prince Albert. She was the second youngest in a family of nine.  They were an active farming family. She attended elementary school at Elk Range and Centreville country schools and high school at Prince Albert Collegiate Institute. After her schooling, she worked in a bakery for a year with her sister, Kit. Lionne and Kit moved to Ocean Falls B.C. where her brother Bob lived, and she worked there for ten years. At one time four of her siblings were working at Ocean Falls. One of her jobs in a sawmill was to stop and pick up the new employees to take them to the mill. One morning in November of 1947, her fate that day was to meet the love of her life, Ezzio Morelli. They were married on Oct 30, 1948 in Vancouver and returned to Ocean Falls for the winter. In the spring of 1949, they headed for the farm in Viscount just in time for the spring work.

In 1949 they started a family that grew to include four children; Rodney (Joan), Edwin (Henriette), Loa (Dave Titman), and Verne/Bernie (Janice). This grew to include grandchildren; Ivy (Kim) Mathison – Andrew & Tyler; Lee (Marlo) Morelli – Julia, Renelle, Martine; Allison (Steven) Fries – Jacob, Maggie, Samantha; Jenny (Gerald) Trimble – Kelsey(Preston Default) – Xander, Bethany, Brooke(finacee Kurt Brooks) – Stella, Aimee, Connor. Urbain (Jessica)  - Emma, Olivia. Jordan – Edwin, Aziz, Seneca. Melissa (Denis Lacroix) – Pascal, Lucia. Krystlle (Anton Ovtchinnikov) – Sofiya. Paul (Amanda) Titman – Lucas, William, Arie Anna. Lindsay (Justin Bergermann) – Bruce, Cooper. Tara Morelli (Bryan Lariviere) – Hayden, Addyson. Lana Morelli – Emery, Corben. Family was the heart and soul of Lionne’s being. They were first and foremost in her thoughts and in all that she did.

During the years of raising a family, Lionne helped with the farm work. She hauled grain plus always managed meals for the family. First, at land north of Plunkett where they lived on Uncle Louis’ farm until a house could be built on the farm in Viscount. They farmed at Plunkett for the first eleven years. During this time, at Viscount, more land was purchased for the operation until it supported itself. Ed and Lionne grew their herd of purebred Aberdeen Angus cattle to over one hundred head. Lionne did all the paperwork of purebred registrations. They were members of the Aberdeen Angus Organization becoming life members in 1950.

In September of 1993 they left the farm in Viscount to reside in Saskatoon at which time Rodney took over the operation. In Saskatoon, Ed & Lionne, moved to the Market Mall area, first renting an apartment, and then buying a condo in which she lived until 2017. She lost the love of her life on October 28, 2006 after a marriage of fifty-eight years.

Royal Purple and Legion were the nucleus of Lionne’s community volunteerism. She was a charter member of Viscount Royal Purple #215 from 1958 until disbandment in 1987.  Her Viscount record showed twenty years of perfect attendance. Lionne received a life membership from the Viscount OORP in January 1986. She held many offices, including Honoured Royal Lady and Secretary. Following this, Lionne became a life member of Saskatoon Royal Purple Lodge #46. She received her sixty-year membership pin in 2019. 1964 was a memorable year when the Viscount Elks and Royal Purple performed a play, Mystery, Murder and Mayhem for both Viscount and Dana communities, with Lionne as one of the actors in the play. Many a cold winter evening was spent rehearsing.

She had been a member of the Viscount Ladies’ Auxiliary for thirteen years and a member of Nutana #362 to present, fulfilling the office of president for one term for the latter. She had been a delegate to many provincial conventions for the Ladies’ Auxiliary. November 11TH always found her involved with the Remembrance Day service at Viscount, assisting the Ladies’ Auxiliary in providing lunch after the service. Lionne became an Associate member of Viscount Legion #271 in 1990, attaining a 30-year membership pin in 2019. She was one of the driving forces in maintaining the Viscount Branch, even after leaving the farm and moving to Saskatoon. She continued to be instrumental in making reservations for the yearly Christmas party for the Viscount Legion, Ladies Auxiliary, and x-Viscount friends living in Saskatoon until age 95! She assisted with the Literary and Poster contest each year by helping to judge or selecting others to do so. She also visited schools to help with the presentation of awards and took pictures of the winners and gave them to the secretary for inclusion in the Legion magazine.

For many years Lionne volunteered for the Nutana Honour Guard, attending veterans’ funerals.  Prior to November 11th, along with members of Branch #362, she participated in Remembrance Day services at Saskatoon Nursing homes. She also sold tickets and poppies in the malls for Saskatoon Branch #362, as well as assisting with ticket sales for the local Air Cadets. It was through the Legion that Lionne and Ed participated with other Canadian Veterans and spouses in the 40th Anniversary celebrations of D-Day with a three-week tour of Europe in 1985. On May 5, 1995 a special celebration was held honoring the fiftieth anniversary of the Liberation of The Netherlands and they had many warm and very emotional memories of this trip.

Lionne was actively involved in Viscount 4-H. She was a project leader in sewing, cooking and crafts.  She was an avid supporter of all her children’s activities whether it was sports, 4-H or fundraising. Lionne was part of the Viscount Celebrate Saskatchewan committee in 1985 and Celebrate 80 Committee.  She also participated in constructing floats for the celebrations. In the 1980s, Lionne was a member of the Viscount Wheatland Library Board. In 1984-85, Lionne was part of the Viscount History Book Committee as a proof-reader, researcher, and typist. Many afternoons were spent researching old Viscount Sun newspapers, looking for that elusive detail for someone’s personal story for the history book.

 
In 2018, Lionne, moved from her condo at Market Mall to The Bentley, assisted living, followed by a move to a personal care home.  She passed away peacefully on August 13, 2019 at St. Paul’s Hospital, surrounded by her loving family.
Special thanks to Dr. Ruben Rajakumar for his many years of attentive heart health care as well as to the staff on 7th Floor at St. Paul’s Hospital. There will be a Celebration of her life, Tuesday, August 20, 2019 at 1:00 pm from Saskatoon Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers the family would appreciate donations in Lionne’s memory to a charity of your choice.

Life does not leave gracefully. It tears down cities in its wake, shaking the ground

beneath our glass houses. It hurts to think that I will bever get to meet the

person you once were. When your eyes shone with wonder and excitement.

When your spirit and body was young and naive.

Instead I looked over, and listened to you breathe in another struggling breath.

I saw your eyes move beneath your closed eyelids, and I hoped your

dreams were better than what you woke up too.

An osygen mask clinging to your face, your grandson holding a finger of your fraile

twitching hand, your lungs shuddering to keep up with your exhausted heart.

I studied the curve of your nose, and the inward curl of your bottom lip,

to every line and wrinkle in your experienced features.

Life was taking a long time leaving you. As if it was hesitating over

letting go of your hand. But life was being selfish with this you see,

because you stopped a long time ago... holding on to it.

Life will miss your company dearly Lionne. As will we. As will I.

Renelle Morelli