MURRAY, Harry (1928-2013)

MURRAY

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 7/8/2024 at 09:20:26

Harry "Skeezix" Murray
(July 30, 1928 - January 24, 2013)

Harry “Skeezix” Murray, age 84, of Holstein, Iowa, and formerly of Ida Grove, Iowa, died Thursday, January 24, 2013, at the Holstein Good Samaritan Center in Holstein. Memorial services will be held 10:30 a.m. Saturday, February 2, 2013, at the First United Methodist Church in Ida Grove, Iowa, under the direction of Christensen-Huffman Funeral Homes. The Reverend Chad Lierman will officiate, with burial to follow in the Ida Grove Cemetery. The family will greet friends at the church on Saturday one hour prior to services.
Born July 30, 1928, in Rolfe, Iowa, Harry “Skeezix” Murray was the son of Wiley Bovell and Zelma Josephine (Sandvig) Murray. He was baptized with his only daughter, Vicky, at the Presbyterian Church in Pocahontas, Iowa. He was a member of the United Methodist Church in Ida Grove for over fifty years. Harry grew up and graduated from Rolfe High School, playing football, baseball and excelling in basketball. He was thrilled to be able to play against the Harlem Globetrotters in Varina, Iowa, where he guarded Meadowlark Lemon. He attended Morningside College in Sioux City on a sports scholarship. Harry was united in marriage to Lois Jean Cox on July 9, 1948, in Pocahontas, Iowa. They were later divorced. On August 7, 1985, he married Charlotte Wood in Virginia City, Nevada. Harry worked as a plumber at Grauff Plumbing in Pocahontas, Iowa, and then joined his brother-in-law in 1955, in a plumbing business in Ida Grove, servicing Ida Grove and Storm Lake. He later sold the business and became an instructor of plumbing, heating and air conditioning at Western Iowa Tech Community College in Denison, Iowa. After retirement he lived in Denison, later moved back to Ida Grove, lived at Morningside Care Center, and then Good Samaritan in Holstein.
Harry enjoyed sports and was a little league coach. He also enjoyed hunting, fishing and bowling. Harry was a Mason and then became a Shriner in the Animal Patrol Unit portraying Kermit the Frog in Denison, Iowa, which he loved. He served on the Ida Grove City Council and as a volunteer for the Ida Grove Fire Department.
Survivors include his daughter, Vicky Murray, of Ida Grove; a sister, Josephine Henderson of Havelock; two step-children, Mike (Deb) Wood of Iowa Falls, and Pam (Ron) Argall of Beckwourth, CA; step-grandsons, Jason Wood of Cherokee, Jarod (Amanda) Wood of Iowa Falls, Chad Schwier of Donner Pass, CA, and Aaron Schwier of Chilcoot, CA; and great-grandchildren, Macenzie, Jaron, Cael, Elliot, Lauren, and Reese Wood, and Travis and Trenton Schwier. Harry was preceded in death by an infant son, Randy Martin Murray; his parents; two brothers, Wiley Murray, Jr. and Carl Andy Murray; a sister, Carleen Leeper; and his wife, Charlotte Wood. Source - Christenson-Van Houten Funeral Services, 321 2nd St., Ida Grove, IA. 51445