Community activist.
Born at Lindsay, Ontario on 14 September 1919 to Emma Ryall Frelinger (1898-1993) and Louis Francisco Morien (Moreno) (1889-1952), he grew up in the foothills of Alberta southwest of Calgary. Although an ambitious student, the demands and hardships of the Depression meant an early departure from high school to help support his family. In the late 1930s, while still a teenager, he and his brother Frank purchased and moved to a small ranch near Kevisville, Alberta.
In 1941, he joined the Canadian Army, and then in 1942 enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force. There, he headed the class of aircraftsmen, graduated from the St. Thomas Technical Training School, and received a gold medal in acknowledgement of his high standing. After a medical discharge in 1943, he found himself in Winnipeg, and following his passion for airplanes, began a 31-year career with Trans-Canada Airlines (now Air Canada), in both Winnipeg and Montreal. In 1948, he met nursing student, Margaret Kate “Nicki” Nichols (1928-2013), and after their marriage on 4 November 1950, went on to have three children.
Shortly after retiring from Air Canada in 1974, he resumed his interest in airplanes by restoring passenger aircraft for Beaver Enterprises. This eventually led to his involvement with the then fledgling Western Canadian Aviation Museum. In 1992, after years of pouring his energies into the project, he became the Director of Restoration. That year he also received a 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal in recognition of his many volunteer hours. He remained at the WCAM until a severe stroke in June 2007 curtailed his hands-on activities there. Despite the impairments brought on by the stroke, his interest in the restoration projects remained strong.
Never one to remain idle, he engaged in many hobbies, including carpentry, gardening, chinchilla breeding (he served on the board of the Manitoba Chinchilla Breeders Association), puzzle-solving, and reading.
He died at Winnipeg on 12 June 2008 and was buried in the Chapel Lawn Memorial Gardens.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 21 June 2008.
“Antonio Franciso ‘Tony’ Morien,” FindAGrave.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 21 December 2024
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