A private family Celebration of Life was held for Chester Eugene “Gene” Murr on March 8, 2021, at the cemetery in Chriesman, Texas, where he was received by our lord and Savior.
Chester Eugene Murr was born in Cohutta, Whitfield County, Georgia, on November 20, 1935, to parents, Fred Junior Murr and Ruby Hurst Murr.
As a boy, he was raised in the Church of Christ and become a child of God at the age of 10.
He grew up on a family farm of fruits and vegetables, and gardening later became a lifelong passion that he shared his son Michael.
He was surrounded by an extended family of aunts and uncles and cousins in the Georgia area he remained very close to throughout his life.
Gene was drafted in the Army at the age of 19 and sent overseas to Korea. He served from 1954-56. He did his basic training at Camp Gordon in Augusta, Georgia, and from there went on to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, for Pole Line and Electronics Trainings.
He was shipped out to Fort Lewis,Washington, via the U.S.S. James O’Hara to Tokyo, Japan, and Camp Drake and then on to Inchon, Japan, and trucked to the 51st Signal Battalion, and his final destination was the 55 Military Police Company in Uijonbu at the I Corp area.
In the later years of his life, he spoke freely and fondly of his military experience and reconnected with his buddies and found them to be very rewarding friendships.
He was discharged at Fort Hood, Texas, on February 15, 1957.
He married his sweetheart, Mary, hours later (with no socks- he forgot!!) at the Church of Christ in Georgetown, Texas. They were happily married just shy of 64 years.
Gene and Mary had two children: Michael Edward Murr and Vickie Murr. They raised their family in Austin, Texas.
Gene was an outstanding automotive salesman, and never met a stranger. In 1985, he patented a CVS Joint tool for front end alignment.
Gene and Mary retired to Chriesman, Texas, in 1997, on County Road 308 to land her father Herman Boedeker left the family.
Gene was very active in the community at the Farmer’s Market.
He attended A&M University and received his Master Gardener Certificate. He donated much of his garden to friends and the community. He was especially fond of Burleson County Ag for bringing out school children on field trips to his garden and showing them how things grow, letting them ask questions, pick a vegetable to taste and take home. He always taught them that watching things grow and having your own garden was very rewarding.
Gene had another passion in life and that was golf! He lived, ate and breathed golf most every day for decades. Gene and Mary were members of the lost Creek Country Club in Austin, Texas, for years, and they traveled around the United States and entered golf tournaments together. Father time slowly took away this love of Gene’s but he kept up the game on TV and putted around his 100 ft. golf hole marked off on the side of his home. We still find golf balls on the place when we mow.
Gene and Mary loved to travel and saw all 50 states together and several countries. Gene often said “You never have to leave U.S. soil to see beauty in the old world.” They loved driving to their destinations and just seeing how beautiful our United States was and then coming back home and sharing their stories with their children and friends. Most of times, they had longtime friends along the way that they ventured out to visit or met new ones along the way. Daddy simply never met a stranger.
Gene had a sense of humor that was known to many. He was always in a happy state of mind. He was a big supporter of Foghorn Leghorn and Tweety Bird and especially liked calling his daughter and giving her a play-by-play on the demise of whomever was “Going to get it” and often said, “Whomever wrote cartoons had it in for cats!!” which was OK with her because she is and will forever be a Daddy’s Girl.
He also had a love for music. He and his son would sit and listen to music outside and barbecue.
Gene was preceded in death by his parents, Fred and Ruby Murr; his sisters, Sue-L Murr and Wilma Cabe of Cohutta, Georgia.
He is survived by his loving wife of 63 years, Mary; his son, Michael; and his daughter, Vickie; grandchildren, Kristen, Kenneth and Travis Murr; two great-granddaughters, Amelia and Cora Murr; sisters-in-law, Doris Boedeker and husband, Ken Carter, and Faye Cook; niece, Pam Blackwell. Gene was especially fond of his niece and great-niece in Dalton, Georgia, Elizabeth Cabe Williams and Dallen Williams.
Gene contracted COVID-19 and passed away on January 10, 2021, from pneumonia.
In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting your consideration to donate to St. Joseph Hospital in Bryan, Texas.