Mary Jo Morrison

Mary Jo Morrison, 1939 – 2024. Our beloved mother, grandmother, sister and aunt, age 84, passed away March 20, 2024 in Heber, Utah. She moved to Heber just three weeks prior to be closer to her precious granddaughters. She had so many plans to teach them to crochet, knit, sew, bake, and play endless amounts of games. She wanted to attend their plays, swim meets, gymnastics, music classes, and everything dance related, including all of their school activities. We are heartbroken at her loss.

Mary Jo was born in Logan, Utah, but lived much of her early life in Franklin, Idaho. Even through the many different places she lived, she considered the Cache Valley area her home. She was born to Adele Whitehead Morrison Hyer Wright and Leland William Morrison. She loved, adored and cared for her younger siblings and they remained close throughout their lives. Her relationships with her nieces and nephews were also cherished by her and by them. But for her, the best part of her life began when she gave birth to her daughter, Jodi Adele Morrison Deputy. Mary Jo and Jodi had a beautiful bond and loved life together. Mary Jo’s first thoughts were always of Jodi and caring for her. They traveled North America together and could also find comfort in doing simple things. She was completely over the moon when she became a grandmother to twin granddaughters, Adele Addison and Sophia Sage. She also took special care of Clare Elizabeth Keeler and made many memories with her when she was in Mary Jo’s care.

Mary Jo was the family practical joker and had the most unique and contagious laugh. She was never one to shy away from hard work and worked a wide range of jobs and careers throughout her life. Mary Jo’s life changed quite a bit when at age 14 her father was tragically killed in a hunting accident. She worked hard to help her mother with her siblings and run the household. In spite of that, Mary Jo graduated from Preston High School in 1957 and headed off to college at Utah State University. Mary Jo married D. Franklin Foss when she was 20 years old. They were later divorced, but remained friends until his death.

Mary Jo worked in accounting and found much success in her accounting work in her early adult life. She moved to the Pacific Northwest as a young adult where she was able to be close to her brother, Craig. She worked many different jobs in the accounting field, but after Jodi was born, she decided it was time to go back to school and earn a degree in education so she could work when Jodi was in school and have as much time with her as possible. She graduated from the University of Washington (Go Huskies!) and she and Jodi eventually landed in Kanab, Utah, where Mary Jo taught high school for over 10 years. She loved being a high school teacher and her students loved her!

Mary Jo had many lasting friendships including those with her high school classmates. They would get together often to catch up on each other’s lives. She easily connected with friends and strangers, immediately extending empathy and unconditional love with a flare of humor. Family was everything to her. She attended every family reunion she could and always took time to visit with family. She was an avid family historian as well. She loved to celebrate holidays with her family and they had large Christmas gatherings each year. She loved to play and laugh at every loud, dancing, musical holiday toy and happily shared them with loved ones, even to the jovial behest of parents.

Mary Jo always had her hands busy and consistently won blue ribbons at the Utah State Fair for her Afghans she crocheted and knitted. But she rarely kept them. Being the generous lady she was, she made them for all her nieces and nephews and dear family and friends.
Mary Jo was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and held many different callings. Primary teacher was her favorite. She was acutely aware of the needs of her ward members and never shied away from serving them. She spent decades waking up at 2:30am on Fridays and Saturdays to serve and work in the Salt Lake Temple and cherished her time there. The temple brought much peace to her.

Mary Jo is survived by her only child, Jodi Adele Morrison (Christian) Deputy and twin granddaughters Adele Addison and Sophia Sage; siblings, Dr. Leland Jed Morrison, Craig LaDell Morrison, & Martha Sue Morrison Gray, nieces and nephews, Dr. Stephen Craig (Julie) Morrison, Bryan Douglas (Ashley) Morrison, Kristy Lee (John) West, Angela Nicole (McKay) Shoell, Tamara Susan (Jason) Coons, Alex Michael James Morrison, Dr. Victoria Lee (Matt) Knudsen, J. Ryan Morrison, Elle Morrison (Jason) Mayer, Nicolas (Abi) Gray, Hans (Ashley) Gray, and Katherine Michelle Morrison Gray (Jeff) Etcheverry. Numerous grand nieces & nephews Hailey, Cameron, & Cole Morrison; Kayla, Ashley, & Maya Morrison; Brendan, Emma, & Dylan West; George, Kathryn, Adaline, & Mary Shoell; Madelyn, Jason Jr, & Hannah Coons; Jackson John & Eliza Kate Etcheverry; Ezekiel Lewis & Isaac James Gray; Henry, Adam, & Grant Knudsen; Alexandra, Elle, Lauren, Michael, & Jad Recor. She was preceded in death by her parents, Leland William Morrison, Adele Whitehead Morrison Wright, & Willis York Wright, in addition to her infant elder brother, Peter, and nephew Dr. Michael Jad Morrison.

Her funeral will be held at the Salt Lake Highland Stake Center, 2700 S Filmore St, Salt Lake City, UT, on Friday, March 29th at 11am. A viewing will be held Thursday March 28th from 6:00 to 8:00pm and Friday morning at 10am also at the Stake Center. Interment will be Friday at 4pm in Franklin, Idaho.

To view the recorded service, please click on the Watch Service button above.