Helen Murray

Helen N. Murray of The Villages passed away May 7, 2014. She slipped away peacefully in the loving arms of the Lord and her family after a short illness. Mrs. Murray was born January 19, 1937 in Galesburg, Illinois to Edward and Orla Nichols. She graduated from Galesburg High School in 1954 and University of Illinois in 1958. She was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority and graduated with a degree in Special Education. On July 5, 1958 she married David E Murray and they moved to Sterling, Illinois in 1961 where her husband practiced law with the law firm of Ward Murray Pace and Johnson. She taught EMH classes in Champaign and Sterling Illinois for several years before becoming a mother and homemaker for their three children. She lived in Sterling and Rock Falls, Illinois until 2012 when she and her husband moved to Tall Trees in The Villages, Florida. In addition to being a loving Christian wife, mother and grandmother, Helen was an avid gardener and reader and she enjoyed volunteer hospital work and church work as an active member of the First Congregational Church of Sterling. She was a member of the PEO and the Sterling Hospital Auxiliary and a myriad of other community activities until Cushing's Disease robbed her of the ability to maintain many of her charitable activities. Prior to that time she enjoyed skiing, traveling and boating. She was an active member of the Whiteside and Sterling-Rock Falls Republican Women's Clubs. In The Villages she attended New Covenant United Methodist Church and particularly enjoyed Tuesday night WOW dinners and Pastor Harold's sermons. She was also fond of the Tall Trees Ladies' Book Club. Mrs. Murray is survived by her husband of fifty-five years and her daughters Lisa (Paul) Pederson of Winter Park, Colorado, and Heather (Tom) Ohmer and grandsons Andrew, Jeffrey and Jack Ohmer of Naperville Illinois, and son Michael (Olivia) Murray and grandchildren Kiana and Finnegan of San Francisco, California and a sister Jane Tornquist of Kewanee, Illinois. A brief informal memorial service was held at the Chapel of New Covenant United Methodist Church at The Villages. Funeral services will be held at 11 AM Saturday, May 17, 2014 at the The Big Red Church, First Congregational, Sterling, with Pastor Jeff Coester, officiating. Burial will be at Lower York Cemetery, Thomson, IL. Visitation will be held from 4-7 PM Friday at the Schilling Funeral Home, Sterling and from 10-11 AM Saturday, prior to services at the church. Memorial gifts in lieu of flowers may be made to the Cushing's Support and Research Foundation of Illinois. Local arrangements there will be handled by Schilling Funeral Home. Condolences may be sent to schillingfuneralhome.com.