Neil Roderick Morem

An Obituary
Neil Roderick Morem suffered a massive stroke and passed away on the morning of March 15 in Naples, Florida. He was very proud of his decades of work at the Green Giant Company. At his retirement, he had been the companys senior vice president and general counsel. Over many years, he represented Green Giant at trade and industry conferences and conventions around the nation. He kept in close contact with the Leo Burnett agency, making sure all Green Giant TV commercials and print ads met the companys needs. In order to keep Neils executive skills sharp, Green Giant sent him to Harvard Business School where he took the three-month Advanced Management Program in 1974. He let everyone know in his later years that he was the sole remaining survivor of the team of Green Giant executives led by Bob Cosgrove before the sale of the firm. Younger executives expressed thanks to him for helping them start their careers. After he took early retirement from Green Giant, Neil then joined John Schmidts law firm in Le Sueur. When Schmidt was named a judge, Neil became the sole practitioner. He handled many estates and court cases over the years until his retirement. He was very active in the business community, joining many professional associations, including the Minnesota Bar Association, and becoming the president of the Minnesota Association of Commerce and Industry. Neil was born on April 5, 1927 to Geolene (Gay) and Tillman (Till) Morem in Harmony, Minnesota. He attended Harmony High School until he enlisted in the Navy on his 18 th birthday in 1945. His parents received his diploma because he left school to join the Navy. In 1946, he was released from his duties (helping to decommission ships after the war). He then attended school at Winona State College and the University of Minnesota where he received his business degree in 1949. He and some classmates bought a small house near the football stadium and lived there while going to school. They called it Harmony House after their home town.

Neil married Joan Kanne in 1951. Harmony House served as their first home as a married couple. He then graduated from law school in 1952 and was hired by Northwestern National Life Insurance. A year later, Green Giant hired Neil as its very first in-house attorney. Neil was involved in and led many community endeavors during his working years, including planning and building the hospital (now the Minnesota Valley Health Center) and the Le Sueur Community Center. He thoroughly enjoyed watching hockey games and wanted his sons to play, so he was one of the main forces behind building an ice rink and a hockey program in Le Sueur. He arranged for the high schools first varsity team to get uniforms through Green Giant. He was also very proud to have served as chairman of the board of the Cosgrove Fund for many years. The Fund has helped support many activities and organizations in Le Sueur since its inception. He was a member of the Le Sueur Rotary Club. He also served as a member of the Le Sueur Planning Commission and was appointed to the City Council for part of a term. Neil ran the Green Giant Land and Development division in the 1950s and 1960s. It was organized to develop farmlands into Park Knolls to make high quality housing available for its employees and the community. Neil was a devout member of the Le Sueur Presbyterian Church. He served as an elder and in other leadership roles over the decades. As an avid golfer, he was a member of Le Sueur Country Club for decades. He became president of the Country Club at an inauspicious timeduring the 1965 flood. He was relieved when the creek flooded to the door of the clubhouse, but no further. Neil loved to play bridge. He was a member of a Le Sueur couples bridge club with his wife for years. He also kept up his membership in the Futile Finesse mens bridge club in Le Sueur and the Twin Cities over many years. Neil was very proud of his Norwegian heritage. He belonged to the Torske Klubben mens club in Minneapolis and in the Phoenix area where he wintered for years. He and his wife took two trips to Norway to sightsee, explore the areas where their ancestors came from, and do some genealogical research. They met several distant relatives at what had been one of the original Morem farms. He also thoroughly enjoyed eating lefse, Norwegian meatballs, and other Norwegian treats. He also loved to fish, so he took his family up to Otter Tail Lake every summer where he caught many sizeable walleyes. Later, he and his wife bought two tiny cabins on a lake in Nisswa,

Minnesota, connected them with a new great room, and continued to add on until they were sure there was plenty of room for guests. This became their retirement home. Neil had a very long and happy life. He was survived by his wife, Joan Clarice Kanne Morem; six children: Philip (Deborah), Sally, Judith (partner Eric Oie), David (Debra), Jon (Debra), and Kurt Morem (Jeannie); seven grandchildren: Andrew (Emalee), Katelyn, Ashley, Amanda, Aaron, Ryan, and Clayton Morem; his brother Donald (Arlene), sister Marjorie Ellingson (Erik), brotherin-law Miles Kanne (Marge), and many nieces and nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews, and cousins. Neil was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Curtis and his wife Peggy, and his sisterin-law Helen Arnott and her husband Hermon. There will be a memorial service in Minnesota this spring. Burial will take place at Greenfield Cemetery in Harmony, Minnesota.