Cliff Buchan
News Editor

Malcolm Morley will certainly be remembered for a number of business involvements over a half century here, but the Forest Lake man also enjoyed serving people.

The latter is just one of the ways Morley should be remembered, said his son Pat, commenting on his father’s life.

Malcolm Morley, a lifelong resident of the area, died on Thursday, Oct. 4 after an extended battle with cancer. He was 81.

The Morley name is stamped on a number of Forest Lake area businesses. Trucking companies, bus companies and mini-storage facilities were all businesses that involved Malcolm Morley during a work career that started after World War II and never fully ended.

But his father was far more than a businessman, Pat Morley said.

When he wasn’t working, his father was active at St. Peter’s Catholic Church. He was a volunteer at the parochial school as a teacher’s helper, took homebound area residents to medical appointments and served as a volunteer driver for the local Meals on Wheels program, his son said.

W.W. II veteran

Morley was born in St. Paul on Sept. 24, 1926 to Joseph and Orena (Houle) Morley. He was one of six children born to the couple. His mother was from the Forest Lake area while his father came here from Redwood Falls.

He graduated from Forest Lake High School in 1944 and immediately joined the Navy. He served at the end of World War II with duty in the Pacific on a heavy cruiser, his son said.

“Like many of the World War II guys, he didn’t talk much about his service,” Pat Morley said.

After getting out of the Navy in 1946, Morley returned home and went to work for his father in Morley Transfer, a local trucking company that he would eventually own with his brother, John Morley.

Malcolm Morley worked with the common carrier and freight hauler until 1982 when the business was sold. It came during a time of deregulation in the trucking industry when it became difficult for small companies to survive, said Pat Morley, who drove truck for his father for 13 years.

Malcolm Morley was also involved in two other business enterprises with his brother. Together they owned Morley Bus Company and Forest Lake Mini-Storage.

Morley Bus, which was sold to Laidlaw International, had bus hubs in St. Paul and Forest Lake. The company transported many special education students from this area and handled city school bus routes in St. Paul. Laidlaw has since been acquired by First Student.

Pat Morley said his father continued to have an interest in the mini-storage operation and worked at the business until his health began to fail in early 2006. His health decline came at the same time that his wife of 58 years, Norma Jean, died, Pat Morley said.

“He never did retire,” Pat said of his father. “He took some winters off. He got sick right after she (Norma Jean) died.”

Morley married Norma Jean Graves of Forest Lake on Jan. 14, 1948. They were the parents of four children.

In addition to his community service at St. Peter’s, Morley was an ardent conservationist and booster of the American Legion in Forest Lake.

He served as Post 225 commander here in 1954-55 and held most of the office posts during his years of Legion involvement.

On the conservation side, Morley received the Jackson County Conservation Award in the late 1990s for his work in restoring wetlands in the southern Minnesota county. He enjoyed hunting and the wetland project was an extension of that interest, his son said.

Funeral details

A Mass of Christian Burial for Malcolm Morley was Monday, Oct. 8 at St. Peter’s Catholic Church. Interment was at Calvary Cemetery, Forest Lake.

He is survived by sons Patrick (Carol) Morley, Thomas (Sheila) Morley, Robert Morley; daughter Kristin (John) Trotto; 10 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren; siblings Shirley Hallberg, John (Liz) Morley and Delores (Jerry) Fairbanks; and numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Norma Jean; sisters Maureen and LaVonne; and his parents.,

Memorials may be made in Malcolm Morley’s name to the St. Peter’s Catholic Church Elementary School.

Top of Page