Lillian Rhea Gillespie Murphey

Lillian Rhea Gillespie Murphey (91) of Woodway, Texas and formerly of Kaufman and Frankston, Texas passed away to be with our Lord, Jesus Christ, Thursday, June 2, 2016. Visitation will be Tuesday June 7, 2016 between 5:00PM and 7:00PM at Connally-Compton Funeral Home, 4400 W Waco Dr., Waco, Texas. Graveside services and burial will be on Wednesday, June 8, 2016 at 2:00PM at Liberty Hill Cemetery (FM 1305) near Frankston, Texas.

Lillian was born April 21, 1925 as the fourth child to Thomas Jefferson and Essie (Sidener) Gillespie in Kaufman, Texas She is survived by her daughter, Barbara Murphey; niece and nephews, Frances Fontenot, Joe and wife Diane Gillespie, Tommy Gillespie; sister-in-law, Marie (Murphey) Stringfield and other nieces and nephews on her husband’s side of the family.

Those who have passed on before were her husband of 73 years, Wesley Truitt Murphey, their daughter, Rita Starpattern, her parents, her sister, Jean Frances Greene and brothers, John Robert Gillespie and Thomas Jefferson Gillespie Jr.

A few years after Lillian was born her family moved to Anderson County, Texas to live on her grandfather’s farm. Her mother had passed away in 1929 and her grandmother moved into the family home to help raise 3 children while her dad, Jeff Gillespie, went to the city to find work.

During her time in Anderson County, Texas she went to school in Frankston Texas where she met the love of her life. After the death of her grandfather, Lillian and her grandmother Edna Fox Sidener moved to Fort Worth Texas where Lillian graduated from high school in 1942.

That same year Wesley came to find her and they were married November 3 in Dallas. They spent a wonderful seventy-three years together, only separated by WWII and his annual obligations to the Navy Reserve.

When Wesley Truitt entered the Navy and was based in New York during WWII, in 1942, Lillian as a new bride and young girl of 17 moved to the big city to be close. She lived in a third floor walk-up apartment. When Wesley was transferred to Miami, Florida she followed him there. Upon his discharged in September 1945 they boarded a train and returned to Texas.

They first lived in Waco then moved to Dallas because of a transfer for Wesley’s job. In 1946 their first daughter, Rita, was born followed by Barbara in 1954. Lillian’s first job was to her husband and her children. Although when not a housewife she worked at Motorola and Sears.

Wesley’s career moved them from Dallas to Houston to Nashville, Tennessee, back to Dallas, then on to Lincoln, Nebraska, and Phoenix, Arizona. Finally, an opportunity arose to return to Texas and they moved to Waco where they found their last home.

Lillian and Wesley loved to travel. They visited 54 foreign countries on all 5 major continents and several islands in the Atlantic and Pacific and Gulf of Mexico. When they would travel in their travel trailer, sometimes with the Good Sams RV Club, Wesley would venture off with a bucket and a pick to hunt rocks and Lillian would stay at the trailer piecing quilts or cross-stitching pictures. Lillian loved sewing and hand-work. She made many quilts, some of which won awards in quilt shows in various parts of the country.

As a member of Crestview Church of Christ in Waco, Lillian spent many hours assisting Wesley in reviewing lessons submitted by students of the World Bible School focused in Nigeria, Central Africa. Although Wesley was the one to travel to Africa Lillian’s work and support helped with the one hundred and ten thousand students.

Lillian was a former President of the Woodway Senior Citizens Club.

In lieu of flowers please donate to your favorite charity in Lillian’s name.

Arrangements under the direction of Connally-Compton Funeral Directors, Waco, TX.