Mary Elizabeth Hall-Downer-Murphy

Mary Elizabeth Hall-Downer-Murphy, 87, of Wilburton, died Sunday, June 21, 2009, at Talihina Veterans Center.

Memorial services will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Bob Waldrop Memorial Chapel with Randy Waldrop officiating. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Waldrop Funeral Home of Wilburton. She and her husband Roy G. Murphy’s remains will be spread in the waters off the Memorial in Hawaii

Born May 30, 1922, in Carbon, she was the daughter of the late Jackson Herschel and Bessie (Johns) Hall. She graduated from Calvin High School and joined the United States Navy in 1942. She served with the Medical Corps in California and the South Pacific.

She married Harry Eugene Downer in 1945, and he preceded her in death in 1962. She continued her education under the GI Bill at East Central University in Ada, and the University of Oklahoma at Norman.

She later married Roy G. Murphy, and he also preceded her in death.

She worked for the Department of Human Services in Pittsburg County as a social worker and for the Department of Corrections for 35 years.

She was active with the American Red Cross serving as a volunteer after retiring from Human Services.

She was a member of the Toast Mistresses’ Club, Civil Air Patrol, and the McAlester Rebekah Lodge. She worked with the literacy programs teaching reading skills and English as a second language through the McAlester Library and her church.

She was also a member of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Women’s Democratic Club.

Survivors include her daughter and son-in-law, Terra and David Allford, of Wetumka; grandsons and families, David Evan Allford, Becky, Shelby and Wyatt, of Wetumka, Joe and Jill Allford, of Wewoka, Ben, Michelle, Mason, Alexander and Jack Allford, of Holdenville.

Also daughter, Tami’Jo Pons and son-in-law, Alfred, of Haileyville, granddaughter, Tami L. Luevano and her husband, Shane, of McAlester; great-granddaughters, Brittany A. McLaughlin and Danielle L. McLaughlin, both of McAlester; other children, Barry Downer, Jarrett, Va., and Nola Ruppart, Valdese, N.C.; sister, Gladys Luchak, Citrus Heights, Calif.; brother-in-law, Paul Downer, Indianapolis, Ind., and sister-in-law, Kathy Hall, of Carbon.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Jack and Bessie Hall, of Krebs; her first husband, Harry Eugene Downer; her second husband, Roy G. Murphy, retired deputy; her brothers, DeForrest Hall, Fort Mohavel, Ariz., and Jack Hall Jr., of Carbon.

Text Only