'Our kids will certainly miss her'
School district shocked at sudden death of music teacher at Range Lake North
Kirsten Fenn
Northern News Services
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
If you've ever been to a theatre or music performance in Yellowknife, chances are Marilyn Morrison was part of the show, or at least working somewhere behind the scenes to make sure it ran smoothly.
Marilyn Morrison, pictured at Pilot's Monument, taught music, band and choir at Range Lake North School. Morrison died suddenly on Nov. 8. - Photo courtesy of Briana Morrison |
Morrison died suddenly on Nov. 8 from an undisclosed medical emergency. The 56-year-old taught music, band and choir at Range Lake North School for 15 years.
Music classes were temporarily suspended after her death and counsellors were brought in to help students and teachers cope with the loss.
"It just came as a real shock for us to lose a staff member during the year just like that," said Metro Huculak, superintendent of Yellowknife Education District No. 1. "It's just something you don't ever expect.
"Our kids will certainly miss her, we'll miss her and she did an excellent job for us with the music programs."
Morrison was known for her beautiful voice and active role in Yellowknife's arts community. But it's for the countless hours she spent helping others develop their talents that many people will remember her most, said Courteney Lizotte, Yk1's supervisor of instruction for student support services, who was a friend and colleague of Morrison's at Range Lake North.
"She just wanted everybody to love and appreciate music as much as she did," said Lizotte.
"She gave up endless amounts of hours of her own time to any child who wanted extra help playing an instrument or learning a song. She would stay after school, at lunch time, at recess."
Morrison's three children, Aaron, Briana and Amanda Morrison, remember her as the woman who all their friends considered their second mom. Her nurturing attitude came through in the way she cared for her students as well.
"She bought elf slippers for every single one of her students years ago," said Briana. "If there's ever a sale after the holidays she'd prepare for next year's holidays."
As the teacher in charge of preparing music for school assemblies and holidays, Morrison went out of her way to make sure every student was dressed the part and felt included.
She kept Christmas hats in her classroom and had bought matching red T-shirts for her students ahead of their Remembrance Day performance this year, Amanda said.
Morrison died before the ceremony. The red T-shirts were packed neatly in her car, waiting to be delivered to her class.
Music was never forgotten at Halloween either.
"Every year she did this song, 'Looking for Dracula,'" said Amanda.
"She plugs her nose for parts of it and does a funny voice and has fangs and a cape. She had all the kids - kids that are under four - marching around, stomping their feet, rowing a boat, plugging their noses."
Not only was she a great friend and colleague, Lizotte said, but she truly cared about her school.
"She cared so deeply about music and was an amazing musician," Lizotte said, of talents that Morrison shared outside the school community.
She served as choir director at St. Patrick's Parish, was part of the Yellowknife Choral Society, acted in theatre productions at the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre and taught private voice lessons for young performers.
Her musical gifts ran in the family.
"They all played several musical instruments," Aaron said of Morrison's parents and siblings.
Her father played the fiddle while she and her three sisters and brother were known to sing together for their parents in the 1960s and '70s, he said. The five of them once performed as a quintet on a local radio station in their hometown of Watson, Sask., Aaron said.
Their mother had an opera voice like no other, that could bring tears to someone's eyes, Briana said.
Besides music, she loved the outdoors and any opportunity for an adventure - whether that meant Ski-Dooing or roasting hotdogs over a campfire in the woods.
"She was the life of the party," Amanda said, adding she had an infectious laugh and was often the last person to leave a gathering.
A memorial has been set up outside the music room at Range Lake North School, said Lizotte, where students have been posting pictures and messages to celebrate their memories of Morrison. Music classes at the school resumed Monday, she said.
Morrison had degrees in music and education from the University of Saskatchewan. She moved to Yellowknife in 1991.
She is survived by her three children Aaron, Briana and Amanda, her grandchildren Hayden and Greysen Purcka, her boyfriend Greg Smith and her four siblings.
A memorial mass was held for Morrision on Friday and the funeral the previous Monday.
