Obituary of Harold Thomas Morrell

Harold Thomas was born in 1948 here in Provost to Jack and Mel Morrell and had 3 full brothers - Ken, Art, and Gerald. Jack passed away when Harold was a teenager, and Harold left home to help support his family. Mel remarried Cliff Haggerty, and they had two sons Roy and Philip. Harold returned to high school and graduated from Provost Public High School in 1967. After high school he worked on neighbor's farms, service rigs, construction, and laid brick for his Uncle Bob until he started working with AGT in 1970 when he moved to High River. He transferred to Cardston a year later. In 1972 he married Marianne Ganser, and they started their life together in Claresholm. Harold finished top of his Communication Electrician Apprenticeship in 1974. Still with AGT, they moved to Whitecourt where Tonia was born. The family had a chance to farm in 1976 when Ray and Myron bought farms in the Altario area. The trio decided to run cattle on several quarters of pasture. Jason and Amanda were born. In 1980 Harold and Marianne bought their own farm in the Kirriemuir area and Christopher was born. Harold drove school bus for Neutral Hills School division for 10 years to supplement the farm income until his heart attack in 1989. That winter he started working on the Altario School renovation. During the summer of 1991 the family moved to Provost as Harold was working for Titan Electric. He did his apprenticeship at Vermilion College and graduated in 1994. In 2000 Harold was contracted out by URS Flint to Senlac Thermal (now Southern Pacific) and worked there until his retirement in June of 2013. Harold loved to be outdoors, whether working on the farm, in the oil patch or just lazing at the lake. Free time was spent skidooing, curling, canoeing, waterskiing and camping before the kids came along. Then activities transitioned to family sports like ball, skiing, skating, golfing and more camping. Evening gatherings with friends and family always included a game of cards, a cigarette and a cup of coffee. He started umpiring while in Whitecourt in 1974 and umpired kids and adult ball games until moving to Provost. He was involved with his kids in 4-H while on the farm, and kept books for the local Community Associations. He took his kids to Disneyland, touched the water on the west coast and traveled through the northern states. He holidayed through Nova Scotia, PEI and Cape Breton Island, and touched the water on the east coast. Once the grandchildren came along Harold and Marianne bought a cabin at Macklin Lake where a new generation of family memories were created. As retirement neared, he and Marianne had started to holiday in warm weather countries during the winter, and enjoyed trips to Costa Rica, Jamaica and Panama. He was an avid reader with a keen interest in history, and could always be found with several books on the go. His 65th birthday brought his pension cheque, and a diagnosis of cancer. After chemotherapy, surgery, and a few months at home, he succumbed to his battle with cancer on November 27 at 65 years of age. Harold's memory lives on through his loving wife, of 41 years, Marianne; daughter, Tonia (Murray) Lewis and their daughters, Brynn and Morgan; son, Jason Morrell; daughter, Amanda Morrell (Ryan Elliott) and their children, Aarya and Nyxon; step father, Cliff Haggerty; parents in law, Ray & Marie Ganser; brothers, Ken (Jang) Morrell, Art (Isabella) Morrell, Gerald (Sherrill) Morrell; step brothers, Roy (Amanda) Haggerty and Philip (Rachel) Haggerty; brothers in law, Alvin (Viviane) Ganser and Myron (Irene) Ganser; sister in law, Charity Ganser; as well as numerous other relatives and friends. Harold was predeceased by his son, Christopher (2000); parents, Jack and Mel.