Betty Carolyn Murdock

Betty Carolyn Murdock died September 7, 2017, in Tulsa OK. The widow of the Reverend Dr. Virgil Murdock, she was 88 years old. Betty grew up in Hartshorne, OK where her parents, the late Elmer and Juanita Thrower, owned and published the Hartshorne Sun.

After high school, she attended Phillips University in Enid and graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a BA degree in journalism. She worked as a reporter for The Daily Oklahoman and the Oklahoma City Times.

In 1955, she and her husband moved to Cambridge, MA where he attended Harvard Divinity School. They remained in Massachusetts, where he served a congregation for a few years, then became the Executive Director of the Benevolent Fraternity of Unitarian Churches. Betty was active in a number of charitable organizations in Massachusetts. After they retired to Tulsa in 1986, she was a Gillie at the Gilcrease Museum.

Survivors include her daughter, Lisa Carolyn Ake, and her husband Tracy Ake, of Bristow, VA; grandchildren, Hayley Ake, Hannah Ake, and Sam Ake; a sister, Janice Elliott of Nashville, TN; and a brother, Frank Thrower of Dallas, TX.

In lieu of flowers, the family request donations be made in her name to All Souls Unitarian Church.

Messages of condolence may be sent to Lisa Murdock Ake, 9346 Angel Falls St., Bristow, VA  20136