| Alice C. McMurry, daughter of William and Sophie (Erickson) Stewart, was born on the 17th of September 1908 near Sioux City. She departed on a beautiful Sunday the 28th of December 2003 from the Wayne County Hospital in Corydon at the age of 95 years 3 months and 11 days. In a time when most parents believed and eighth grade education was enough, Alice started High School in the fall of 1922. There were no yellow school busses, so she rode a temperamental pony 5 miles to Leeds, then hurried to catch a street car to ride the next five miles and finished the final mile on foot. In June 1926, she was one of 250 students to graduate. At 17 her dream became a reality as she walked the mile from her parents home to a country school where she began her teaching career. In June 1927 she went to the teacher's college in Cedar Falls to upgrade her certificate. In Cedar Falls Political Geography class she met and on May 19, 1928 she married Earl Lemuel McMurry; they made their home in Arnolds Park. A son, Earl William, was born January 4, 1931. In August they moved to Sioux Rapids and spent 12 pleasant years there while her husband taught. In the summers they migrated to a farm just north of Promise City to carve a home in the wilderness. In 1943 the left Sioux Rapids and made Wayne County a permanent home. She returned to teaching in 1944 and spent 6 years teaching in rural Wayne County. As enrollment in rural schools dropped and consolidation occurred, the next 18 years she taught kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade, at Promise City with the final year before retirement at Seymour. On May 18, 1978 Alice and her husband shared a 50th wedding anniversary. A year later, on August 23rd, Earl died. In 1984, at the age of 75, she went back to work as an assistant in the Promise City Post Office enjoying the purpose and company of Norma Brinkly and Ed Hutson (the rural carrier) until her heart attack forced her to resign. Alice loved children: her own son and grandson, her nieces and nephews, the kindergarten and grade school children. She was the author of poetry and wrote several pieces for the Des Moines Register. Her son took her on trips to Washington D.C. and the western United States, where she saw the magnificent Grand Canyon in 1981 and was awed by Rushmore Park and Yellowstone Park in 1984. Alice also had a special love for the dogs that had been in her life: Brownie, Peg, Mug, Terry, Gally and her constant companion Amigo. She faced the Depression and struggled to make ends meet. The disadvantage of her long life was her familiarity with grief: her father William died in 1946, her Swedish mother Sophie in 1961, then sisters Madge in 1964 and Lelia in 1973, her only brother Floyd in 1980, her sister Blanche in 1982 and the last of her siblings Angie in 1987. In December of 1987 she had a heart attack, and heart bypass surgery followed. Alice's final days were full of love. She was adored by many of her nurses that made her final days comfortable. She shared in their triumphs and losses. She loved them. Some of them would even go in to see her on their days off. She loved the pupils and she had many of them still send cards and stop to see her decades later. There was a constant flow of well wishers and friends that lifted her spirits even on the days when she found it hard to talk. Her family was very important and they visited her everyday. Alice witnessed many changes to the country that she loved: Aerials on house roofs became status symbols, horse drawn carriages giving way to automobiles, planes and even probes into outer space. It filled her with wonder. She knew the horror of four wars and the relief when the so called Cold War ended. She watched electricity come, dirt roads began to wear rock, and underground utility for the telephone and rural water vein through the ground. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, grandson James, her siblings, in-laws, Jamie, Pearl, J Ardys, Mary, grand nephew Nathan Thomas....and many good friends. She is survived by one son, Earl, and grandson John Stewart McMurry, many nieces and nephews and John's mother, Enfys, of Corydon. |
