Kelly D. Morrison

Kelly DePuy Morrison passed away on Sunday, November 3, 2024, at Valley Senior Living in Grand Forks, ND, from complications due to kidney failure. A memorial service will be held on Friday, November 8, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. at the Askew Funeral Home in Cavalier.

Kelly was born on April 6, 1954, to Roy and Marjorie DePuy Morrison at Cavalier, ND. During the space of 70 years, Kelly’s life epitomized personal achievement: his acceptance, his positivity, his generosity, and his goal to serve others were met through his years of teaching. Kelly’s relationships have touched numerous lives and have left an indelible mark.

Kelly grew up in Akra where he enjoyed the freedoms and pleasures of farm living, having a pony, milk cows, goats, dogs, cats, and even rabbits. Along with his parents, they frequently visited neighbors and family, and the art of listening and conversational adroitness were instilled; a mixture of facts and lore lodged in Kelly’s memory and afforded him to reminisce vividly about the past.

Kelly was always well-versed on a variety of subjects, but one of his favorite topics was sports; he followed local, state, national, and professional teams. As a boy he collected the cards of his most admired athletic heroes and memorized the statistics of those players and their teams. As boys often do, he aspired to be a competitive factor in sports, however, when physical limitations prevented participation, he committed to the role of student manager for the Cavalier Tornadoes during high school.

After graduation, Kelly enrolled at Mayville State and it quickly grew to mean more to him than just his college – it became his home – and when he retired, he returned to his beloved Alma Mater to live.

Kelly rose to his strengths: his people skills, his capacity to support others, and his ability to recognize the potential for student achievement were limitless. He became an elementary teacher, junior high and high school coach. He held North Dakota, teacher positions at Garrison, Neche, Crystal, Carson, and Warwick.

As a teacher, he mentored, instructed, nurtured, and inspired students to do and to be their best. Kelly never lost interest for the students he worked with; deep into their adulthoods he remembered them and was quick to acknowledge their accomplishments.

Kelly fostered friendships everywhere he lived and all the places he worked. The friends he made at Mayville were lifelong. His loyalty to his college, and his love for athletics never faltered. He embraced Comet Blue with his whole heart.

Kelly lived with his uncle and aunt, Clayton and Emily Morrison, after his mother died in 1969. Kelly’s father died in 1963.

Kelly’s family requests that memorials be given to the Mayville State University Alumni, or to Mayville Athletics.