Alicen Rose Morley

Alicen Rose Morley, 36, passed away on Wednesday, October 12, 2022. A loving, caring, and giving daughter, wife, and mother, she will be dearly missed by all who knew her. Calling hours for local family and friends will be held on June 28, 2023 at the Fox & Murray Funeral Home, 528 Franklin Street, Ogdensburg, NY from 4:00 to 7:00pm.

Alicen was originally from Ogdensburg and attended Lisbon Central School, where she excelled in academics, music, acting, soccer, basketball, and anything else she could get involved in. This lead to her receiving a scholarship to attend Clarkson University, where she continued to be brilliant and follow her passion for acting, music, and sports. She graduated in 2008 with two Bachelors of Science (Political Science and Accounting), and would then attended SUNY Potsdam and go on to receive a Master of Science in Teaching in 2010. It was here that Alicen met the love of her life, Kristopher Michael Lee, who she would marry on December 23, 2016. Education was a life-long passion of Alicen's, and she continued her studies at Syracuse University and earned a Masters of Arts in Political Science in 2013.

Kris took a position in the mathematics department at Iowa State University in 2012, and Alicen soon moved to Iowa, where she became a social studies teacher at Boone High School in 2014. She was adored by hundreds of students during her 5 year tenure, and continued to find success, earning the Iowa Council for the Social Studies Teacher of the Year in 2017, the National Council for the Social Studies Teacher of the Year in 2018, and numerous other awards and grants (including a donation from Ashton Kutcher).

On June 23, 2017, Alicen and Kris welcomed their first daughter Charlotte Clarke Morley and their second daughter Olivia Ryan Lee soon followed on September 5, 2021. While Alicen was very proud of her career, her family was her true pride and joy, constantly finding ways to enrich and improve their lives together, whether it be scheduling family trips, organizing birthday parties, DIY projects for the house, and finding any and all opportunities for her girls, such as getting Charlotte in the Iowa Wild Junior Crash Course which began her love of skating that continues to this day.

She returned to academia in 2019, enrolling at Iowa State University, where she anticipated to earn her Ph.D. in Education in 2024. Once again, Alicen's talents shone and she received numerous accolades and awards. At the time of her passing, she was working with Ben Van Dusen and Jayson Nissen on examining the efficacy of using a research-based assessment to identify sub-group differences in key concepts in introductory physics, the goal of which is to support science instructors in creating classroom environments that would support all of their students and create more equitable outcomes. Alicen's work earned the Davis-Foster Graduate Student Award from the North Central Association for Science Teacher Education, and it will be completed by Ben and Jayson in tribute and to honor her ideas and efforts in the academic community.

Alicen was preceded by her grandparents, Patricia (Pierce) and Lawrence Lawton and Memory (Sholette) and Henry Morley; and aunt, Marion (Johnson) Lawton, wife to Timothy Lawton.

She is survived by her husband Kristopher Michael Lee, children Charlotte Clarke Morley (age 5) and Olivia Ryan Lee (age 1); mother Susan Elaine (Lawton, Morley) Shannon and stepfather Mitchell John Shannon; father Thomas Scott Morley; brother Jonathan Thomas Morley and his partner Jeanette Delorme and their son Jonathan Cash Morley; sister Emily Patricia Morley and her husband William Moeglein; in-laws Donna Marie (Kateridge) Lee and Christopher Paul Lee, and Rachel Ann Lee; many beloved aunts, uncles, and cousins; dogs Lily and Abby; and her cats Avery and Olive.

Condolences and fond memories can also be shared online at www.foxandmurrayfuneralhome.com.