Betty Iona Murray

Funeral services for Betty Iona Bell-Murray will be held on Friday, July 13th, 2018 at 10:00 Am at the First Christian Church of Tahlequah with Pastor Darrell Christopher officiating. Visitation for Ms. Betty will be held on Thursday, July 12th, 2018 beginning at noon until 6:00 Pm at Reed-Culver Chapel. Her final resting place will be alongside her husband, James William Murray at Ft. Gibson National Cemetery at noon on Friday, July 13th, 2018. Online condolences for her family may be left at www.reedculver.com.

Pallbearers for Betty include Joshua Oaks, Chase Murray, Raymond Mitchell and Jim Lindsey. Her honorary pallbearers include L.D. Hayes, LeRoy Capps, and David Vance.

Betty Iona Bell Murray was born on January 9th, 1929 in Wichita, KS, the daughter of Johnny Ray and Madge Marie (Sayer) Bell. She grew up with her brother, Jack. She attended and graduated from Braman High School and would later obtain her Masters Degree from OSU. She met and married her life’s companion and her best friend, James(Jim) William Murray on June 9th, 1951 in Wichita, KS. This union was blessed with 44 years of memories and three children Atina, Jamie and, Anita. Her husband Jim was called into service teaching photography at OSU, a job that would end up taking them to Benghazi, Libya, and while there, Betty became a teacher and principle at the American School in Benghazi. She was also a teacher and high school principal at the Jimma College in Jimma, Africa. The family returned to the USA, and Betty taught English for 4 years in the Wagoner Public School system. She loved her pupils and opening their minds to all the knowledge she had to share. She possessed a warm smile and a loving, kind personality, and you always felt like you were with a friend that cared. After she retired from education, she began self employment owning and operating a number of businesses and properties. She loved time spent with her children and especially her grandchildren, Sabrina, Joshua, Chase and Alyson. She liked to keep up with their many activities and was always ready to give them all the support they needed to succeed. She lost her husband in 1995 and she continued on with her service in the Eastern Star and her church activities. When she had free time, Betty enjoyed working to help further develop her friendships and activities she had begun. A Christian by faith, Betty attended First Christian Church of Tahlequah. She passed from this life on July 9th, 2018 in Tahlequah, OK. She was 89 years old. She will be greatly missed by all those who knew and loved her.

She is preceded in death by her mother, father, her husband, James, one daughter, Atina Murray, her brother, Jack Bell, and her sister-in-law, Elsie Jacobs.

Those left to cherish her memory include her loving children, James William Murray III of Yukon, OK, and Anita Murray Schultz and husband Lawrence Schultz of Tahlequah. She leaves her sister-in-law, Corky Bell of Wichita, KS. She lives on in her four grandchildren and her three great grandchildren, Sabrina Macdonald of Knoxville, TN, Joshua Oaks of Chicago, IL, James “Chase” William Murray IV and wife Kassie Jean of Edmond, OK, and Alyson “Aly” Johnson and husband Derek of Westminster, CO. Her great grandchildren include Kailey Macdonald, Devon Macdonald, and James Riley Murray, as well as many nieces nephews and many friends, and students whose lives she touched over the years.