Audrey Ann Murray

Audrey Ann (Avery) Murray, 79 of San Antonio, Texas and formerly of Dubuque and Palmdale, California passed away Sunday, November 6, 2016 at Saint Luke’s Hospital in San Antonio.

Committal services will be at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday December 3, 2016 at the Mueller Chapel at Linwood Cemetery, Rev. Dr. Marsha Wilfong, officiating.  Burial will follow at Linwood Cemetery.  Arrangements by The Leonard Funeral Home & Crematory.

She is preceded in death by her mother, Ann Margaret (Riedi) Avery, her father, Ellsworth Charles Avery (Commander, U.S. Navy, Retired), her younger brother, Craig Ellsworth Avery, her loving husband, Joseph Lyman Murray, her Riedi and Avery grandparents, and many dear aunts, uncles and cousins.

Survivors include her beloved son, David Mason Murray, daughter-in-law, Toni, and precious grandson, David Mason Murray, Jr., best friends Barbara (Wilkening) Ahern, Mary Lea Ince, and Cynda Thomas, and dear ones in both the Riedi and Avery families.

Audrey was born in Los Angeles, Californiaon October 28, 1937.  With her father in the Navy, the family moved often and she treasured the friendships she made and maintained throughout her life, despite their many moves.  One of those moves took them to Hawaii.

Just 4 years old, her little brother 2 years old, she was at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.  They were getting ready to attend Sunday School, and she was in her mother's arms, the attacking pilots so close that she could see their faces and look in their eyes, machine gun fire hitting the houses they were hiding between.  Her father was out to sea, and they had no idea if he was alive.  

The survivors were sent to hide in the hills.  Even then, her love of animals was an organizing principle of her life - their dog went with them.  Six months later they were evacuated off the island and made their way to her mother's family in Dubuque, while they waited out the war.  Her mother, Ann Riedi Avery, was one of 9 children in a large and loving Swiss family.  All of the many Riedi cousins in Dubuque were like siblings to Audrey and her brother Craig.  For this reason, Swiss music was especially dear to her.  While in Dubuque, Audrey attended Fulton School.

Over the years they lived in many places, including:  Orange, Texas;  Pittman, New Jersey;  and Cincinnati, Ohio.  In 1955 she graduated from John Marshall High School in Los Angeles.  In school she was a member of Job's Daughters, enjoyed synchronized swimming, and brought home every possible animal her mother would tolerate - and then some.

Her father survived the attack, was made a Commander, and made a distinguished career in the Navy.  While the family lived in Cincinnati, Audrey’s beloved brother Craig died suddenly in a car accident on a fishing trip, when he was in his early college years.  She said even though Craig was only 2 years old during the attack, he remembered the sights and sounds of the bombs all of his life.  

Despite PTSD that never left her, Audrey persevered.  She worked at General Electric in Cincinnati and attended business school there, and bought herself a beautiful blue Corvette, which she drove to California, where she wished to resettle.  In LA, she worked and went to school.

Audrey's Corvette momentarily broke down in front of the house of her future husband, Joe.  She married her tall red-headed firefighter in Pasadena on March 3, 1962.

They worked hard to finally establish a home in the desert town of Palmdale, where they remained all of their married lives.  She raced her Corvette and together they worked on their property.  They loved to go camping, hunting and fishing in the Sierra Mountains.  They raised Weimaraners (and as owners, even won Best of Breed at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden).  They planted an orchard of hundreds of peach trees, and Audrey herself was an incredible gardener - growing everything from purple potatoes to olives.  The most important blessing of their lives was the joyous arrival of their son David, and the greatest delight of their lives was their grandson, Davey.

Audrey continued her work as a secretary for experimental aviation defense contractors.  She was very proud of this work.  She loved her country very much.

Joe continued as a firefighter for the City of Glendale.  Her son, David, has continued that legacy in his own fashion.  He is a member of the mounted posse for Los Angeles County, going out on search and rescue missions.  So, Audrey had that experience as an adult, too, of waiting and praying while her beloveds went out to serve at great risk.  She was extremely proud of her father, husband and son, and to be the wife and mother of first responders.

During her working years and retirement, Audrey loved to knit, read, and travel.  After she retired, her determined perseverance continued through chronic pain for the last decades of her life.  She traveled extensively with her best friend, Barbara - reuniting after traveling to Europe on the Queen Mary when they were young women.  Her dear husband Joe passed in 2013 and she struggled with significant loss of sight.  The last year and a half of Audrey's life was spent in Northeast San Antonio with her cousins, and with the sounds of trainees in the air from Randolph Air Force Base in nearby Universal City.  She was welcomed at Esplanade Gardens Assisted Living Community and the congregation of Universal City United Methodist Church by many retirees from the Air Force, made new friends, nourished her Christian faith, surprised herself with new activities, and loved being able to reminisce with her long distance friends about their travels and the adventures of their lives.

Audrey would remind us all to stay connected to one another.  She will be so missed, for her great sense of humor, and her tender, loving ways.
 

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