John Morley, 88, Ogdensburg

OGDENSBURG- Funeral services for John Morley, age 88, of Ogdensburg, will be held on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, at 10:00 AM at Frary Funeral Home, Ogdensburg, with Rev. Tom Nichols, Brother John Youngblood and Kyle Morley officiating.

Calling hours will be held on Tuesday, January 23, 2024, from 3:00 PM. until 6:00 PM.

Entombment will follow the funeral service at Oswegatchie Memorial Park. Mr. Morley passed away at his home on Tuesday afternoon, January 16, 2024, surrounded by his loving family and under the care of Hospice of St. Lawrence Valley.

Arrangements are under the care and direction of Frary Funeral Home.

John was born on November 9th, 1935, in Ogdensburg, NY, the son of the late William and Margaret (Baker) Morley.

He was a 1958 graduate of Ogdensburg Free Academy. He met Beverly Thomson at a skating rink in DeKalb and they later married on June 22, 1958, at St. Augustine Church in Hermon.

John joined the Local 81 Mason’s Union and was a bricklayer, building the Seaway locks, Niagara Frontier Power Project, Robert R. Moses Power Project, the Ogdensburg International Bridge, Riverview Towers, Centennial Tower in Ogdensburg, Fort Drum, and many projects from the Catskills to the greater Ogdensburg area, working for J.L. Leger Corp. He worked for 66 years in Union and was a trustee of the International Union of Bricklayers, something that he was very proud of.

He enjoyed hunting, dancing, gardening, tending to his flowers, country music, and playing cards, and “Marbles”.

He was a lifelong member of St. John’s Episcopal Church, where he served as a trustee, sang in the choir, and helped with masonry projects.

Most of all he loved spending time with his family and friends.

He is survived by his wife, Beverly Morley, of Ogdensburg; his children, Barbara Ames-Montroy and her husband Leon, of Ogdensburg, John Morley Jr. and his wife Denise, of Geneseo, Michele O’Gorman and her husband James, of Clayton, NY, and Thomas Morley and his partner Carol Polhemus, of Fort Myers, FL; eleven grandchildren; many great-grandchildren and his sister, Johanna Grenier, of Ogdensburg, as well as several nieces and nephews.

He is predeceased by his brothers, Judson Morley and James McDermott, and his sisters, Jacqueline Moncrief and Judith Donnelly. He was also predeceased by his son-in-law William Ames, whom he was very close to.

Donations in John’s memory can be made to Hospice of St. Lawrence Valley 6805 US 11 Potsdam, NY 13676.

Condolences may be made online at www.fraryfuneralhome.com.