Harold Richard "Mort" Mortensen, Sr. Obituary (2021)

Harold Richard Mortensen, Sr. Born October 19th, 1940. We are sad to share the news of the passing of our father, Harold "Mort" Mortensen, Sr. in the late afternoon of Friday, November 5th in Lexington, NC at the age of 81. Harold had been ill for the past few years, but he never stopped being the happy, positive guy we all knew and loved. He was always thinking about the future and all the things he wanted to fix, repair, redesign, and improve (always the engineer). At the same time, he enjoyed revisiting the past and telling many stories about growing up around Germantown in Upstate New York, or his many summers working the farms with his extended family (the Mortensen, Hanson, and Larson families) in Minnesota. In his stories he passed to his two sons the desire to make things better than one found it, always work hard, and inject a little humor whenever possible. While he originally wanted to be a farmer, he became an engineer for many years punctuated by being outdoors golfing, fishing, and hunting with his good friends. He also spent time in his woodshop and built things for family and friends, and spent a few years tracing family genealogy and archiving family photos for posterity. Harold worked as a project engineer, plant manager, and quality control manager for Bendix/Facet/Purolator in Elmira NY (and Murfreesboro, NC) for 34 years and was a manufacturing engineer for Trayer Products in Elmira for 10 years before retiring. Harold is survived by his sons, Harold (Hal) Richard Mortensen, Jr. (Lexington, NC) and Loring Allen Mortensen with his wife, T. Lee Mortensen (Greensboro, NC). He is also survived by his four grandchildren: Emilie Boone, Rebecca, Luke, and Skye Mortensen; and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his loving wife of 55 years, Luana Siglin Mortensen; father, Herchel Richard Mortensen; mother, Catharine Snyder Mortensen; brother, James Herchel Mortensen and his wife, Karen Butterfield Mortensen. CALLING HOURS WILL BE HELD AT THE BAKER FAMILY FUNERAL HOME, 640 W. GRAY ST. ELMIRA, NY ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12TH FROM 10AM-11AM. FUNERAL SERVICE WILL BE HELD AT THE CONCLUSION OF CALLING HOURS WITH THE REVEREND BILL REYNOLDS OFFICIATING. INTERMENT TO FOLLOW IN WOODLAWN CEMETERY, ELMIRA. In lieu of flowers, send a gift to any animal shelter or charity of your choice. Harold loved our family pets: Scruffy, Dickens, and his walking buddy, Buck. The family wishes to send a special thank you to the staff at the Hinkle Hospice House in Lexington, NC for their care and compassion. www.bakerfamilyfuneralhome.com