Hazel P. Murrah, age 85, of Memphis, Tennessee, went to Heaven to meet her Savior, Jesus Christ, on Monday, February 22, 2021. Hazel was born in Hernando, Mississippi, on October 9, 1935. She was the daughter of Kate and Amos Pounders of Eudora, Mississippi. She is predeceased by her parents; a sister, Nell; and a brother, Manley.
Hazel graduated from Eudora High school, where she was known to play a mean game of basketball for the varsity team. Hazel attended Clarke Memorial College in Newton County Mississippi. It was at Clarke that she met her lifetime soulmate, Thomas Earl Murrah. Sunday, August 2, 1953 was the start of their 67 year-long journey together.
Hazel worked for The Southern Company in Memphis for a few years in the late 1950’s, but when her daughter (Rhonda) arrived in 1960, Hazel transformed herself into the ideal ‘stay-at-home’ mom. Meals were made, school lunches were packed; the clothes got washed and she was always there if her family needed her.
Hazel enjoyed spending a lot of time cooking; making her kids shell peas and beans in the summer; she loved going to ballgames to watch her grandchildren play; she was a good bowler; she was there in the stands almost every time her son raced his stock car and almost screamed her head off when he spun out over the embankment at Byhalia, Mississippi. She enjoyed the Life that God gave her, but more than anything else, Hazel enjoyed telling people about her Savior, Jesus.
Hazel was truly a Proverbs 31 kind of woman, wife and mother. The best description of her can be found in the Book of Proverbs, Chapter 31; mainly verses 10 thru 30. This was Hazel and it is true. Hazel’s children do arise up and call her blessed and her husband praises her.
Hazel leaves behind her husband, Thomas Earl Murrah; two sisters, Bennie Cox and Vicki Smith; one son, Thomas R. Murrah (Celia), one daughter, Rhonda Roberts (Tim); four grandchildren, Thomas L. Murrah, Tina Golden (Donald), Josh Barton (Krestyn), and Becca Glisson (Jonathan); nine great-grandchildren and a tenth one on the way.
The family requests, instead of flowers that will soon wither, please send a contribution to The Gideons International at www.sendtheword.org to help spread God’s Holy Word, which will never wither nor pass away. We know that Hazel will surely smile if you do.
The family will receive friends on Sunday, February 28 from 5:00-7:00 PM and funeral services will be held on Monday, March 1 at 10:00 AM, all at Memphis Funeral Home - Poplar Chapel. Burial will follow in Memphis Memory Gardens.
