Morris Orville. Gjessing, 98, Moose Lake, died peacefully on Friday, May 10, 2024 in Moose Lake Village. He was born on February 11, 1926 in Roseau to Ole and Oleanna Lund. Morris was adopted by Oscar and Marie Gjessing. Morris earned his Eagle Scout in 1939. He graduated early from Duluth Denfeld High School so he could enlist in the U.S. Navy during WWII. Morris completed boot camp in Farragut, ID where he became a Navy Corpsman and was stationed at the Naval Hospital in Seattle. Morris later became a Hospital Corpsman Second Class. He wanted to see the world and transferred to the USS Adonis (ARL-4) which took him on the WEST-PAC cruise to Okinawa, Japan and Shanghai, China as well as other ports of call during WWII. Morris used his GI Bill to get a Biology Degree from the University of Minnesota. During his university years, Morris re-enlisted into the U.S. Naval Reserves and he did a cruise on the Battleship Wisconsin that left Norfolk and went through the Panama Canal to San Francisco. Morris became restless and wanted to see more of the world and got a job at the U.S. Hydrographic Office in Washington, D.C. as a cartographer. He had assignments in the Caribbean Sea, Greater Antilles, South America, and his more memorable spots of Antigua, Jamaica, and Barbados. He worked on the icebreaker Red Bud for the US Navy Hydrographic Office and made maps and surveyed water depths in Greenland. Morris went back to Duluth and became a telegrapher for the railroads in Northern Minnesota until he became restless once again and wanted to see Alaska. He and a friend drove their NASH (the upside-down bathtub) to Alaska to work as a telegrapher on the Alaskan Railroad. He later enrolled in Pharmacology School at the University of Washington where he graduated. He ended up on “skid row” where he met Carrots Cosgrove and Swede Nelson. Mr. Cosgrove taught Morris the art of investing in the stock market. Morris then worked as a dishwasher on a dredge in Astoria, Washington. In the 1950’s, Morris decided to come back home to Minnesota and passed his pharmacy certification test. He began working at a drug store where his future sister-in-law, Helen Marrier, set him up on a blind date with her sister, Marrietta Faust. Morris and Marietta hit it off immediately and married on August 26, 1961 in St. Paul. Morris and Marietta moved to Des Moines, IA where Morris worked at the VA Hospital. They began their family with Mark being born in 1962 and Mylan in 1966. Morris missed his parents and they moved back to Duluth where Morris began working as a pharmacist for Goldfine’s Department Store. Matthew was born in 1967 to complete their family. In the early 1970’s, Morris started working as a pharmacist for the Moose Lake State Hospital until his retirement in the 1990’s. Morris loved to travel, attended Hope Lutheran Church, and was a member of Autumn Voices, Sons of Norway, Moose Lake American Legion, and the Carlton VFW.
Morris is preceded in death by his wife of 46 years, Marietta in 2007; 11 siblings; and his parents.
He will be lovingly remembered by his three sons: Mark, Mylan, and Matthew; two grandchildren: Alexander and Nathan; and numerous nieces, nephews, and friends.
Visitation will be from 9 am until the 10 am funeral service on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Hope Lutheran Church, Moose Lake. Lunch will follow the service at the church. Burial with Military Honors will take place on Friday, May 17, 2024 at 2 pm in Oneota Cemetery, Duluth.
Arrangements by Hamlin-Hansen-Funeral Home, Moose Lake.
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