Story Land colleagues remember their friend

It's been a tough few days for employees at Story Land and Hertiage-NH. People there lost a true friend. Tuesday, staff issued a press release, "Remember Stoney Morrell, president of Story Land.""R. Stoning (Stoney) Morrell, Jr., president of Story Land and the Morrell Corporation, died at his home in Glen, N.H., on Sunday evening, Oct. 22, yielding to the cancer that had first taken root two years ago. He was 50 years old."For the better part of the past 25 years, some with the first and second generation working side by side, and many with Stoney carrying on the familys legacy after both parents had passed away, he presided over the growth of Story Land into a regional theme park destination that still maintains its original charm and unique character. Stoney made sure that countless charities benefited from the growth of the business by continually channeling generous contributions to community organizations with little or no fanfare. "He demonstrated a remarkable ability to sidestep the spotlight while playing a leading role in the community and directing the performance of a high-profile company. He was always quick to credit the people he worked with and cite the natural beauty of northern New Hampshire as two keys to the success of the business. While Story Land as a company has received a great deal of recognition over the years for its business practices, Stoney was also honored individually this year by the Northern NH Charitable Trust with a Lifetime Achievement Award 'for outstanding leadership and contribution to the enterprise of the North Country.'"He was by his nature the embodiment of what he valued most in those he met, a prime example of cooperation, empathy, and genuine caring for everyone he came in contact with every day. Over the years he developed a devoted management team, allowing each individual a great deal of creative freedom and autonomy, yet harnessing them all to pull in the same direction. A gifted listener with a knack for asking the right questions, he absorbed every detail of the business and learned the strengths and weaknesses of each staff member, exercising an innate ability to piece it all together into a smooth operation that will be continued by that team."Born and raised in North Conway, Stoney was the son of Robert S. and Ruth T. Morrell, the younger brother of Nancy Morrell, and a virtual sibling of the familys theme park business and the extended family of cast members who have worked there over the past 53 years. Stoney graduated from Kennett High School, where he starred as a smooth-fielding shortstop on the 1974 state championship baseball team, and he is also an alumnus of Dartmouth College."In 1978 his parents proudly issued a press release announcing that 22-year-old Stoney had joined Story Land as a manager, but his undergraduate studies were followed by some post-graduate work at San Diego State University, a bicycle trip from Vancouver to San Francisco, and summer work as a ranch hand in Jackson Hole, Wyo. "Despite his lifelong love of horses and other animals large and small, it was while baling hay and counting heads of beef in what he described as his childhood dream job at the Triangle Q Ranch that he came to realize that his adulthood dream job was to become a key player in the excitement at his familys theme park business. "By 1982 he was working year-round at the park, where he remained quietly in command for the rest of his life, pursuing the 'unique factor' and keeping everyone on the same 'wavelength,' two Morrell family phrases and lessons learned early in his childhood."Outside of the business, Stoney was a very private family man who enjoyed spending time in the New Hampshire woods, and occasionally driving a farm tractor or a team of horses when the opportunities were presented. His love of the outdoors and the environment and nature of all kinds was exceeded only by his devotion to his children: Taber, the son he had the privilege of seeing off to college this fall for his freshman year; and Halie, the daughter who recently learned to drive with Stoney instructing from the passenger seat. He was also a dedicated husband to his wife, Foley, and a very special brother to his sister, Nancy. A memorial service for Stoney Morrell will be held on Saturday, Oct. 28, at 11 a.m., at the First Church of Christ Congregational, 2503 White Mountain Highway, Main Street, in North Conway. The Morrell family invites friends and community members to join them at a reception following the service, in the Great Room of the new Tin Mountain Conservation Center Learning Center on Bald Hill Road off of Route 16 in Albany. Stoneys family has requested that in lieu of flowers, anyone seeking to honor his name with a memorial gift consider Tin Mountain Conservation Center, PO Box 1170, Conway,NH 03818.