12/7/1946 – 12/1/2024
Lawrence, Kansas
Michael Thompson Morley, loving husband and father, took his final quantum journey into the unknown on Sunday December 1, 2024, at his home in Lawrence, Kansas.
He made his arrival to the late John C. (Jack) Morley and Marie Thompson Morley on December 7, 1946, in Kansas City, Missouri. He was the oldest of 5 siblings and spent his youth in Kansas City, except for periods living with his family in Denmark (1955) and Scotland (1963), which instilled in him an early love of travel and adventure.
Michael attended Rockhurst High School (Kansas City), Regis College (Denver), and University of Kansas, where he graduated from the School of Journalism in 1969 with a degree in advertising. With the country upended by war he banded together with a group of good friends and spent years living the storied hippie life galavanting across the country. From Arizona to Washington he did various odd jobs and barely stayed out of trouble. He finally landed in the Bay Area where he settled down slightly, married his first wife Sharon Anderson, had a daughter Amanda, and continued his ventures to South America, India, Pakistan and beyond.
How this wild guy came to take a mostly straight-laced Angela Candela to a Rolling Stones concert and marry her still baffles many of us to this day, but their relationship just made sense and is an aspiration to those who know them. They made marriage look easy and were the perfect counterbalance for each other for 41 years.
After stints as a school bus driver, sewing machine mechanic, drug runner and apple picker, to name a few. Michael came to realize he was not content to be an employee. He got a contractor’s license and began by remodeling residential and commercial buildings before moving into new construction and using energy efficient Structural Insulated Panels, SIPs. He wrote the book Building with Structural Insulated Panels in 2000 and invented a system to build geodesic domes using SIPs. One of his domes was erected in Greensburg, Kansas, after a 2007 tornado flattened the town. Of all of his work, his meticulous renovation of his home in Old West Lawrence was closest to his heart. He and Angela always joked that while they loved to travel, there really was no place like home.
His passions included writing, cycling, traveling, gardening (particularly native prairie plants), camping and spending time with his vast network of friends. He was a very engaged member of the Lawrence community. He served two terms as the OWL Association president, took an active part in restoring our brick streets and served on the Historic Resources Commission. He was actively involved in the early days of the Common Ground Community Garden Program and was instrumental in OWL’s own Pearl Clark Community Garden. When he wasn’t doing those things he was tinkering with his prized possession, a 1957 Dodge Power Wagon. Purchased in Arizona, driven daily in California, then to Kansas, it went through many incarnations as he transformed it into the metallic orange flatbed dump truck it is today. As he liked to joke, “he had the truck longer than both marriages put together!”
A creative thinker and teller of tales–be it recounting his own legendary adventures from around the globe, or making up “Johnny and Lizzie” stories for the kids, always picking up where he left off–he was never at a loss for words.
Michael lived a fearless, full life, he never held back and dove head first into each adventure. He was a social butterfly at heart and happiest in the company of others. His friends, family and particularly his grandchildren always brought a smile to his face.
In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his brother Thomas O’Connor Morley in 1984 and his first wife Sharon Anderson in 2018. He is survived by his wife, Angela Candela of the home, and his proudest accomplishments, his three children, Amanda Stan (Silviu Stan), Lawrence, KS; Jackson Morley (Kat Cummings), Providence, RI; and Hazel Morley (Charles von Rosenberg), Ridgewood, NY. He relished his role as “Hot Rod” to his four beloved grandchildren: Amon and Ursula Morley, Alden and Lewin von Rosenberg. He is also survived by his siblings Kevin Morley, Overland Park, KS; Sheila Morley-Wallis, Shawnee, KS; and Brian Morley, Lawrence, KS.
The family is grateful for the many friends who offered support during Michael’s two-year battle with appendiceal cancer. Your kindness fills our hearts! If there are any who wish to make a donation in his name, Michael was a bird lover and a supporter of Audubon of Kansas.
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