Born September 30, 1927-went to be with Jesus December 14, 2025

Irene was preceded in death by her father and mother Merle and Winona Waldon; two sisters Mary Anderson and Josie Hopkins; and a son David Murray, She presided as matriarch over her son Jim Murray and his wife Judy, her daughter Linda Covelli, many grandchildren, many many great grandchildren and bunches of great, great grandchildren! Other than her love for God her family was her greatest source of delight!

She retired from “making ladies beautiful” after 20 years as a beautician. She was married to her husband Frank Murray for 58 years and they traveled extensively including trips to most of the US, Hawaii and several cruises to the Caribbean.

Her hobbies included working with flowers, (family members went to her to identify their plants & flowers) painting on canvass and fishing at their place at the “Lake of the Ozarks”. Her fish fries at the lake were legendary.

They retired to the lake and joined the Christian Church there. After some time they sold the lake property and moved to Springfield to be with family. It was there that she started attending Parkview Christian Church and joined the choir and worked in other ministries. She commented about her involvement there saying “You people are beautiful. You are so full of love. You are not just friends, you are family”.

Years later she went to Las Vegas to live with her daughter and her husband Sam and she had really fond memories of her time with them. In 2021 she returned to Springfield and lived at “The Gardens” Independent Living Facility. She made some really good friends there and enjoyed playing games almost every day. She also attended the daily Bible Study and on Sunday they had church as well. The people there were good to her and made her last days as bearable as possible. At the end the “Seasons” hospice helped her and her family through some tough times. If we are still and concentrate really hard we can hear her one of a kind laughter. We thank our Lord and Savior for welcoming her into his loving arms and look forward to a great reunion.

A celebration of Irene’s life will be held at Greenlawn South on Saturday, January 3-2026 at 1:00 PM. In lieu of flowers please make a memorial donation to Parkview Christian Church.