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Tom Morain

1947 - 2020

Tom Morain obituary, 1947-2020, Lamoni, IA

Tom Morain Obituary

Tom Morain

May 1, 1947 - Oct. 10, 2020

Throughout his life, Tom Morain was less determined to accomplish extraordinary things than to do ordinary things with extraordinary love - and ended up doing both. He received and shared blessings of joy for 73 years and passed away in Lamoni on Oct. 10, 2020, after a 7-month journey through cancer.

Of all his blessings, he was most proud of and grateful for his marriage of 51 years to the one and only Vikki (Updike) Morain and their co-production of two kind and thoughtful sons, Joel and Michael. He valued more than anything else his relationships with his family and countless friends.

Thomas Jeffrey Morain was born on May 1, 1947, in Jefferson, Iowa, the fourth of five children of Fred and Lois (Garver) Morain. He felt blessed and privileged to be part of a family who sustained and supported one another throughout his entire life.

He played right field for the Jefferson Sox and helped them win at least two Little League pennants by racking up the team's highest batting average, a fact you can look up in the Jefferson Bee & Herald, which his family published for 75 years. He also wanted to humbly remind you that he twice helped the Jefferson football team defeat Perry and personally fetched the cowbell trophy for display in its rightful home.

Tom was a brilliant musician - a pianist and four-time All-State French horn player - and a gifted student who appreciated his teachers, especially Miss Kathleen Fields, who taught him how to diagram sentences in seventh grade, and Dr. Barbara Higdon, who challenged and inspired him during his freshman year at Graceland University in Lamoni and for decades to come.

Tom spent two years at Graceland, where he met Vikki, and continued his studies at the University of Iowa, where he earned a doctorate in American Studies. He again felt blessed and privileged, this time for a medical deferment (from a football injury) that enabled him to continue his studies even while many friends and classmates fought in the Vietnam War.

Tom and Vikki were married on June 21, 1969, in Independence, Mo., and lived in Iowa City before moving to Ames in 1973. Both taught at Iowa State University, where Tom counted himself enormously lucky to share an office with Dr. Dorothy Schwieder, a mentor whom he considered the "den mother of Iowa history" and one of the most gracious women he ever knew.

Tom worked at Living History Farms from 1981 to 1995 as its director of research and interpretation and helped the fledgling organization become what a former Smithsonian executive once called "the best agricultural museum anywhere" - a phrase Tom never failed to mention in various grant applications. At the Farms, he slept in a freezing cabin, endured an Ioway Indian sweat lodge, created a successful internship program and initiated the popular historic dinners for the public, which invariably featured pot roasts and homemade rolls slathered in butter. He was grateful for his colleagues, a group he described as the most positive, dedicated and bizarre group of people with whom he ever worked.

Tom wrote or edited several notable books about Iowa history, including "Prairie Grass Roots," an award-winning account of his beloved hometown during the early 20th century.

For six years he led the State Historical Society of Iowa, where he developed another set of enduring friendships, and in 2009 won its highest honor, the Petersen-Harlan Lifetime Achievement Award, for his devotion to sharing Iowa history with Iowans of all ages.

By this time, Tom had returned to Graceland, where he worked from 2001 until the end of his life, helping to bring Iowa Public Radio to southern Iowa and expanding cultural and educational opportunities for southern Iowa youth through AmeriCorps and the Dekko Foundation. He was especially grateful for his Graceland friends and coworkers, with whom he shared a common faith and a community-focused outlook on life.

Graceland is affiliated with the Community of Christ, of which Tom was a member since childhood. He was called to the priesthood but delayed his ordination until 1984, when priesthood opportunities were extended to women, and culminated his lifelong ministry as an evangelist. Along the way, he performed weddings, funerals and countless hours of ministry from the piano bench. He appreciated the Ames congregation for helping to raise his sons in a community of faith and for the way they welcomed his musical experimentation. Although he felt an occasional pang of guilt for once slowing down the tempo of "O, Holy Night" while his sister held on (and on) to a high A-flat, he managed to get over it.

Tom enjoyed his time at the church family campgrounds at Guthrie Grove and especially loved church potlucks, where he proudly "trained" various congregants to bring his favorite, rhubarb pie. He often measured a congregation's spiritual health by the variety of its dessert table.

He played a mean game of bridge with his brothers and once teamed up with his mother to win a tournament in Jefferson. He wrote with impeccable, old-school Palmer penmanship. He loved many dogs in his life - Tony, Lily, Gus, Spot, Pete-Pete, Tux, Watson, Wanda and Lucy - and learned to live with a very long-lived cat, Tiger, who joined the family in Ames on a vote of 3 to 1.

Tom was preceded in death by his parents and sister-in-law, Dagmar Morain Clark. He is survived by his wife, Vikki; sons Joel (Abby Rodd) of Cooperstown, N.Y., and Michael (Heath Smith) of Des Moines; siblings Rick (Kathy) Morain of Jefferson, Bill (Sherry) of Lamoni, Steve (Erna) of Waukee, and Deb (Randy) Burnight of Sioux City; sisters-in-law Diane Morain of Houston and Clay Pytlik of Morgan Hill, Calif.; brother-in-law Lee (Marian) Updike of Independence, Mo.; and many, many cousins, nieces, nephews and friends - including one who recently described him as "the epitome of contagious joy."

A memorial service is tentatively planned for May 1, 2021, in Lamoni, and whenever it happens, ice cream will be served on the lawn. Tom's cremains eventually will be interred at Rose Hill Cemetery in Lamoni.

In the meantime, stories and memories about Tom can be emailed to [email protected] for inclusion in a digital scrapbook, and financial donations in his memory can be sent to Outreach International and Graceland University's Division of Visual and Performing Arts.

"Happy Trails," Tom.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by the Des Moines Register from Oct. 12 to Oct. 18, 2020.

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Not sure what to say?





Katie Fischer

November 2, 2021

Somehow it seems fitting that I am among Tom´s "Other Friends"-we don´t share the same gene pool, we´ve never lived in the same town, and we have never worked together. If I told Tom that in my life he fits into the "Best People I Have Ever Known" category, he´d likely quip, "I won´t belong to any organization that would have me as a member."
The first couple of times my husband and I met up with Tom, he was polite. But when we stayed at the Morain home in Ames, his true colors emerged-the piano-playing, his bouncing on the end of the bed with Vikki to wake us up, his coo-ing to the morning doves in their kitchen, and his endless joking. Through other visits at our house, in the Amana colonies, and over lunches, ever present was his wry humor. Tom had a built-in sensor as to how far to push it.
When Tom and I collaborated on writing a recommendation for the Petersen-Harlen award, every single one of his many emails mentions Michal, Joel, and Vikki. I loved how he loved Vikki and got a kick out of each of her new adventures. Because we lived so far apart, we didn´t see one another often, but every time Jerry and I were with Tom and Vikki was gold. He was the real deal. I am grateful Tom was in our lives. . .and still is.
Heaven is a bit brighter since Tom entered those pearly gates. (Do you think we should warn the saints about his sense of humor?)

Roger Hershey

December 1, 2020

A friend from Graceland College days, with a warm and delightful sense of humor.

Janet Irby

October 30, 2020

Tom and I worked together on the Graceland Tower my senior year and his freshman year (1965-66). I was the editor and he was the copy editor. By November we had discovered Tom's exceptional wit, and he began to write a column called The Stinger. Some quips from his columns:
"Finally the dress policy has been settled. Students will definitely be permitted to wear shorts on campus between Christmas and New Year's."
"A crisis has arisen from the extensive tree-cutting on campus. If the trees continue to disappear at the present rate, a ratio will soon develop on south campus of two couples per tree, with freshmen relegated to the stumps."
"So many apples have been tossed on the front lawn of the boys' dorm that this area is now called the west cider Gunsolley."
I am attaching a picture of one of his columns.
I also enjoyed hearing Tom play the piano in my home, adding his rock and roll and ragtime versions of favorite hymns.
Finally, as he faced the challenges of cancer last winter, he graciously gave me feedback on some chapters of the book I was writing. I heeded his advice. Tom, always in our hearts with love.

Sandy O'Riley

October 25, 2020

I remember Tom's great giggle and enthusiasm for life. Tom and Vikki hosted a Christmas sing along at their home in Ames that we hot to be a part of. They always have fun.

I cut Tom's hair a few times and always enjoyed our one on one conversations.

We had a grand time at Living History Farms when they invited us and hosted a meal at the 1930s home and afterwards we played games in the parlor. Diana (our daughter) especially liked Button, Button Who's Got The Button.

Tom was a good husband to Vikki and father to their 2 sons. You will be sorely missed by your special loved ones. Rest in peace until you are reunited.

Love, Sandy/Craig O'Riley and Family

Pam Robison

October 17, 2020

Tom was such a wonderful bundle of joy! He turned pages for me when we were both in a concert choir together and loved to tease me, but knew when to be serious as well. He touched so many lives and will be deeply missed.

Mark Brandt

October 17, 2020

Tom was a renaissance man. Whatever he did, he did with exceeding superiority. While I left his hometown while in 5th grade, I managed to hear of Tom's accomplishments from time to time. He is gone, but his humanity lives on.

Barbara J Brock

October 16, 2020

Oh yes, now that is a beautiful and perfect description, "the epitome of contagious joy." Tom was beloved by SO many - including my whole extended family. I will hold on to a memory of finding the last seat available in the very first pew in the Lamoni Church during a Graceland Homecoming, directly behind Tom on the piano bench. I soaked up every single note and smiled throughout. Thank you for your beautiful gifts of both music AND words, Tom Morain. You truly did make the ordinary extraordinary.

Susanne (White) Shaffner

October 15, 2020

I grew up in Ames and have known Tom and his family my entire life. I have admired and respected him for that long, as well. If anyone were to ask me, the sun rose and set on Tom sitting at a keyboard.

Tom was, is, and will forever be, the only accompanist I will ever trust and feel comfortable singing with - that's why I've used accompaniment cassettes or CDs since Tom and family moved away from Ames.

As it stands, I will never again be able to listen to Amazing Grace without hearing Tom's Honky Tonk spin.

May you rest in paradise, Tom Morain. You deserve it, my friend!

P.S. Say 'Hi' to Jesus for me.

Debra Garvin

October 15, 2020

This is a beautifully written tribute graced with humor that I'm sure he would have enjoyed.
I was one of Mr. Morain's Iowa History students at ISU. He did an excellent job of making the subject interesting, and after all these years I still remembered his name while I have forgotten those of most of my other teachers.
My sympathy to the family.

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