A bright light  in the universe was extinguished when Susan Elizabeth Rose Murray, age 89, of Purcell, Okla., passed away on May 20, 2025, with her son, Greg, and his wife, Karen, by her side. Born on July 5, 1935, in Knoxville, Tenn., to Bernard Ingram and Marjorie Gannaway Rose, Susie graduated from Bearden High and the University of Tennessee, where she was a member of Pi Beta Phi and active in modern dance. After college she moved to Atlanta where she worked for Rich’s department store and later, Georgia Power and Light’s Community Education Division.

In 1963 Susie married William Pete Moerlins and gave birth to their son Greg. They moved into the historic Crown Height’s neighborhood and fell in love with its tight-knit community that provided picnics, parades, safety and lifelong friendships. Active in the PTA, she loved teaching loom weaving and macrame. Susie was also a foster parent who provided children with a safe and nurturing environment while their families worked through challenges.

In 1980, she married Dr. David Wilson. Together, they opened the Great Western National Health Foods store on N. Western Avenue and committed to a macrobiotic diet (long before it was trendy) to help fight David’s cancer. Susie cared for David until he passed.

Some years after David’s death, she met her soulmate, Gene, at a cafe on Broadway and 8th in downtown Oklahoma City. They  married on their shared birthday, July 5th, in 1985. Together, they created P.R. Specialists, which published (among other things) the newsletter Zoo Friends for the OKC Zoo and ran the Big Dipper Ice Cream Parlor before settling in Purcell, where they built a home on the family farm, raised cows, baled alfalfa, solved crossword puzzles and hosted a magnificent family reunion. Susie always named the cows and she cried every time they went to market.

Active at Trinity United Methodist Church, Susie had a gift for making everyone feel deeply valued and intimately loved. Ever the memory keeper of the family, Susie enjoyed correcting her brothers’ fuzzy details during weekly family Zooms that began during the pandemic and continued to her final days.

Susie is predeceased by her parents; her first husband, Pete; her second husband, David; and the love of her life and husband of 28 years, Robert  Eugene Murray, who passed away in 2013.

Susie will be dearly missed by her son, Greg (Karen); daughter-in-law, Sharon; grandchildren, Amanda (Christopher) and Brandon (Amy); brothers, John and Gerry; nieces and nephews, Kathy, Chris, Scott, David, Samuel and Mycah; and great-grandchildren, Savannah, Everett, Camden, William, Sterling and Melody.

Susie was one of the most loving people in our lives; the  world seemed a better, brighter, friendlier place because of her.

A memorial service will be held at Trinity United Methodist Church in Purcell on July 26, 2025. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to World Neighbors (OKC), Bethany Children’s Health Center (Bethany, Okla.), Circle of Care (OKC), Interfaith Health Center (Knoxville, Tenn.), Sisu Youth Services (OKC) or Trinity United Methodist Church (Purcell).