Longtime Wood River Valley educator Ellen Morrical died of pancreatic cancer Friday, Jan. 25. She was 67.
Morrical was the kind of woman who listened to concerned parents and their children. Her office door was always open and she knew everyone's names. Though Morrical retired in 2000 from her position as the much-loved principal at Hailey Elementary School, she remained an integral member of the administrative staff and family at the Blaine County School District. In fact, Morrical continued to serve as a guest administrator at almost every school in the district until about a month ago.
"When I arrived in 1995, Ellen was advocating for increased special education and reading specialists in her school," Blaine County School District Superintendent Jim Lewis said. "She was concerned about support staff for the average children. She started the first Lindamood-Bell reading clinic (in the district) that has now helped more than a hundred children who were able to be removed from special education assignments.
"She simply was a very special educator that Blaine County was very fortunate to have. I loved her and hate to lose her. I'm so thankful that she spent the majority of her professional life here with our kids."
Born in 1940 in New Jersey, Morrical spent her childhood in St. Louis, Mo. She moved to Idaho—to ski, she said years ago—by way of Sunnyvale, Calif. At age 29, she was teaching partially sighted students in Gooding, and skiing. In her early 30s, she trained new teachers for the Teachers' Corps. in Filer, and skied. In 1974, Blaine County School District Superintendent Phil Homer hired her as a sixth-grade language arts teacher. She taught that subject for two years and then became principal of the school.
School district board of trustees clerk Kathy Zaccardi worked with her for 20 years.
"She was dedicated, committed, loved kids and loved her school," Zaccardi said. "She was just such a kind, kind, spirited woman and brave. This last year she was so positive. She's an inspiration to people ill or healthy, an absolute inspiration."
Upon her retirement in 2000, Morrical said, "This is a great place to teach, and that's not phony baloney."
She will be missed by the many children who learned the three R's inside her cozy, thoughtful school and all the parents who felt the sincerity of her attention.
A reception in her honor will be held at the Blaine County Senior Center from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. today, Jan. 30.
Courtesy photo by Ronile Robinson
Always a part of the community, Ellen Morrical participated in the June 2007 Relay for Life in Hailey.
