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- Class of 1931 PACS
MURRAY
Post-Standard, The (Syracuse, NY) - July 2, 2011
Vera Jane Murray
June 23, 2011
Vera “Jane” Murray, died June 23, 2011, shortly after her 97th birthday in Alexandria, VA. She was the daughter of Una Cooper Murray, born in England, and Andrew Murray, born in Scotland.
Jane grew up in Pulaski and graduated from Pulaski Academy, in 1931. She was salutatorian of her class and a member of the championship girls’ basketball team. She attended Syracuse University, but left college because of the Depression.
She rose into executive ranks at a time when it was rare for women to do so. She first worked in Syracuse as an administrative assistant at Syracuse Rendering Co. and at O.M. Edwards, then became an inspector for the New York State government in Albany. She was active in the Business and Professional Women’s Club and held several local and state offices with the organization. In the 1960s, she gained a position with the U.S. Dept. of Labor in Washington, D.C. Jane’s career continued in Okinawa and Korea, where she was assigned to the army as a wage and hour inspector for nine years. She then returned to Washington, D.C., as chief of the Position and Pay Management Branch in the Pentagon Civilian Personnel Office.
Upon retirement to Clearwater, FL, she continued to travel the world. She visited every continent except Australia, her friends speculating that she didn’t find enough challenge in visiting an English-speaking country. She participated in many Elderhostels, and enjoyed golf, swimming, cooking, birding, and playing her Wurlitzer organ with gusto. She moved to an assisted living facility in Alexandria, VA, in 2005, where she attended exercise classes daily to the end of her life and played a good game of bridge a week before she died, despite being dealt, as she said, “lousy hands.”
Jane was intelligent, fun loving, caring, family oriented, and proof that hard work can achieve success despite challenges.
She is survived by her sister, Dorothy Deans of Pulaski; nieces, Andrea Deans of Pulaski; nieces, Andrea Deans of Pulaski and Karen Deans, her caretaker in Washington, D.C.; nephew, Douglas Murray of West Hartford, CT, plus many more nieces, nephews, and their progeny. Her brothers, Bruce and Robert Murray predeceased her.
Memorial service will be held at the discretion of the family. Jane will be greatly missed.
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1914 - 2011 (97 years)