Miriam Estelle Murtha 1917 - 2009

MURTHA, HOOVER, PENNOCK

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 11/23/2020 at 01:03:52

Sioux City Journal
21 May 2009

Miriam E. Murtha

SIOUX CITY - Miriam Estelle Murtha, 91, of Sioux City died Monday, May 18, 2009, at a Sioux City hospital.

Services will be 10 a.m. Friday at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, with the Rev. Daniel Guenther officiating. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery. Visitation will be 9 a. m. until service time Friday at the church. Condolences may be sent online to www.christysmith.com.

Miriam was born Aug. 27, 1917, in Griggsville, Ill., to David and Estella (Hoover) Pennock. The family later moved to Davenport, Iowa, where she attended school. She graduated from Davenport High School in 1934. She moved to Sioux City after graduation to work for the local phone company.

She married Harold C. Murtha on May 25, 1940, in Sioux City. Harold was called to serve in World War II and she stayed and continued to work for the phone company. The couple raised their family in Sioux City after the war. Harold was a bricklayer for H.S. Holtz Construction and she was a homemaker. Harold died July 26, 1993.

She was a member of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church and the Altar Society. She was a member of Mercy Auxiliary, formerly known as Marian Health Auxiliary, Carmelite Guild and Catholic Women's League. She served as the sacristan at Immaculate Conception for more than 20 years. She founded the parent teachers organization and the first Girl Scout Troop at Immaculate Conception.

She had been a member of the Delta Phi Gamma Sorority for nearly 60 years. She held the position of president of her chapter for the past several years. She loved playing cards, music, dancing, attending the community theatre, her friends and her family.

She is survived by her daughter, Janet and Tim Pugh of Omaha; two sons, Roger Murtha and his fiancee, Jennie Tighe, of Sioux City, and Dr. Scott and Jeani Murtha of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; nine grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; an infant daughter, Mary Estella Murtha; her husband; and eight siblings.

Memorials may be directed to Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Sioux City.