Obituary of Morganne Adele Bayley

January 7, 1982 – Regina, Saskatchewan

April 21, 2024 – Calgary, Alberta

Morganne (Marty) Bayley passed away suddenly on Sunday, April 21, 2024, at the age of 42 years. We will miss her crazy laugh and enduring smile – and of course those big blue eyes.

Morganne’s name means “One who dwells by water” and she spent her first twelve years living at Last Mountain Lake in Regina Beach, Saskatchewan. Morganne soon gained a nickname at age two, when she was asked by her Auntie Sherri what her name was. Morganne couldn’t quite pronounce it correctly and Sherri would tease her saying “Martin. Martin? That’s a boy’s name!”. The name stuck, so she became “Marty”.

Morganne loved the water and learned how to swim very early. Morganne and her family would spend hours down on the beach during the summer. You would often see Marty chasing the seagulls off the point of the beach, coming back with treasured feathers.

At age three, she started cross-country skiing and was out most winter weekends with Jesse and forty other kids, as her mom and dad ran the Jackrabbit Ski Club. She loved skating and often imagined herself being a famous figure skater.

Over the years, Marty lazed out on the paddleboard, made castles in the sand, and took sailing lessons with her brother Jesse. As she grew older, she loved hanging out and goofing around with her cousin Carrie and friend Cori.

Morganne was one of the inaugural students at the South Shore School at Regina Beach and her social life beach friends like Erin, Ben, and Jason, expanded with many other school buddies. Morganne had the best music teacher in Sandy Foster and with her guidance, she won several medals playing the organ.

At age ten, she started synchronized swimming with the Regina club. She loved the creativity, the music, and skill it demanded, and soon was winning competition after competition, while being coached by her mom, Duna. One day as she watched the Olympics on TV (age twelve), she jumped on the couch and held her arms up in victory saying, “The gold medal goes to Morganne Bayley.” She was fortunate enough to be coached by Laurie Wachs, the provincial head coach, who nurtured Morganne’s passion for the sport and life. They soon became lifelong friends. Morganne was known for her strength, elegance, and grace in the pool across Canada.

Commuting from the lake into the city was tiring for this young athlete, who would get up at 3:15 a.m. for early morning practice, go to school all day, and then head back to the city for another practice. She never wavered and loved the work ethic. While Duna took the morning shifts, her dad Dale would drive her home. Morganne, after evening practices and before heading home for supper, always wanted to stop at 7-11 for raw wieners and Hawkins cheezies, much to her mother’s chagrin. This could be the origin of her love of snacks! Anyone who knew Morganne knew she was a foodie and would rather order hor d’oeuvres than a meal. And she had a HUGE appetite! Her fav food—rhubarb! Oh, and dill pickles.

After moving into Regina, Morganne met two of her best friends, Brianne and Randi, at Hawrylak School. This trio was inseparable and most famous for their “lipsync” performance in Grade 6 of Ace of Base’s “I Saw the Sign.” Morganne’s social life was full of friendships and fun. Brianne later moved to Calgary, fulfilling a childhood promise to live together as roommates in an apartment. Friends were always important to Morganne, and she did a great job over the years trying to stay in touch and up-to-date on people’s lives.

When the family moved to Calgary, Morganne joined the Calgary Aquabelles, and along with swimming friends, Ashley, Alexis, Shayna, and others, reached even higher goals. Morganne won a gold medal in her solo in France, swimming to Jann Arden’s music “Hanging by a Thread”, and swimming with the Senior team in Spain, and came home with silver. While she was training, she worked part-time at CavaBien, a hair salon, and made more friends. Morganne was always doing her teammates’ hair and loved creating new styles.

Morganne was an avid skier, then, after the one day it took her to master snowboarding, switched and became a “boarder”. She also spent many years hiking in the mountains with her brother and family. One such hike ended up being eight hours; not four, as the trail suggested. Morganne was only eight years old, and we ran out of water and food after hour three. But she kept singing the “diarrhea” song, along with Jesse, making up silly verses and was quite content licking the plastic wrapper of the processed cheese we had finished off hours before. What a trooper!

Morganne furthered her education and began work in the dental business in office management. She enjoyed the work but later admitted that she wanted to work in a career that made people happy. With her laugh and smile, she had no trouble making people feel good, but admitted that most people who came out of the dentist were not happy, with a big bill and sore mouth! During that time, she also modelled and was often seen in the Calgary newspapers or on the runway. She was stunning! One of her dear friends Shawna, had her modelling in many hairstylist and makeup shows.

And then, she was blessed with the love of her life. Her son, Connor, was born in 2008 and life changed. She loved him deeply and will forever love him. Her sense of humour and playfulness intrigued her little man, and they spent a lot of time laughing and then laughed some more. Last year, Morganne and Connor, who just switched from skiing to boarding, headed out on their boards and spent the day at Fairmount Ski Hill, enjoying the sunshine and great snow.

Morganne always wanted Connor to be supported in his learning and was trying to save for his education. Connor has talked about attending the University of Calgary for Kinesiology, and Morganne was very excited about his education goals.

Morganne’s love of people has led her to have many diverse friends. She has a large extended family and was always interested in what her cousins were up to. She had a special relationship with her brother Jesse. Often during road trips or while they watched movies, we would hear uncontrollable laughter, like they had some secret code where they would find something funny, that no one else would get.

Morganne, with all her success still had her share of challenges. She struggled with her health over the past few years, but as the determined, goal-setter that she was, she decided to live her life to the fullest and work hard to find her way back to good health. More than anything, Morganne did not want to be defined by the hardships she faced. She wanted people to see her as she truly was. She was often confused and frustrated with people who were unkind. Morganne was thankful for new friends who were supporting her through her journey to health. She was looking forward to new adventures and her future with Connor.

Morganne’s mantras in the past couple of years were, “Fall down, get back up” and “Your smile can change someone else’s life.” And she lived up to them. She was so incredibly generous with her smile, her blue eyes lighting up as she talked or engaged with others. Her smile, her kindness, and her compassion had a huge impact on many people.

She will be greatly missed by her son Connor, mother Duna, father Dale, brother Jesse, extended family, and her many friends, including many of her parent’s friends who loved her dearly.

Morganne was predeceased by her grandparents and two uncles.

Morganne, many of your friends have said they were drawn in by your incredible warmth, your love for life, and your incredible sense of humor. They described you as a bright light with love in your heart and that you gave that love so easily to others. 

We will love you always Marty.

Funeral Services will be held at McInnis & Holloway (Fish Creek, 14441 Bannister Road SE, Calgary, AB) on Saturday, June 8, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. Reception to follow in the Hospitality Centre at the Funeral Home.

In memory of Morganne, please consider contributing to "Morganne's wish" GoFundMe page which can be found at https://gofund.me/668b3791.

Condolences, memories, and photos may be shared and viewed with Morganne’s family here.

In living memory of Morganne Bayley, a tree will be planted in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area by McInnis & Holloway Funeral Homes, Fish Creek, 14441 Bannister Road SE, Calgary, Ab t2x 3j3, Telephone: 403-256-9575.