W. Dean Murrow

Funeral service for Wendell Dean Murrow will be 2:00 p.m. Saturday, January 31, 2015, at First Presbyterian Church in Alva with Kevin Fields officiating. Interment will follow in Alva Municipal Cemetery under the direction of Marshall Funeral Home of Alva. There will be a visitation with the family present from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Friday, January 30, 2015. Wendell Dean Murrow, son of the late A.L. “Lute” and Mildred (Hall) Murrow, was born August 9, 1922, on the old Carrico place near Avard, Oklahoma and died January 28, 2015 in Alva, Oklahoma at the age of 92. Dean completed first grade in the Alva school system and began second grade in Cherokee. The Murrow family moved to Dacoma while Dean was in second grade and he declared that he felt like he had gone to heaven! He graduated with the Dacoma High School Class of 1940. Dean was a star basketball player in Dacoma and continued the game when he signed on with the Rangers of Northwestern, where he played from 1940 to 1942. Dean and his childhood sweetheart, Dolores Riggs, were married February 15, 1942. During their sophomore year at Northwestern, they moved to Wichita, Kansas, where Dean enjoyed a brief career in semi-professional basketball. World War II intervened and Dean enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving from October 15, 1942 until his honorable discharge November 22, 1945. He was stationed at the Naval Air Station in Hutchinson, Kansas and at the Panama Canal. During his time in the Navy, Dean acquired the nickname “Moose” and it stuck with him for the rest of his life. Dean and Dolores returned to their hometown of Dacoma and joined the family grocery and meat market business. They raised two sons, Randall Bruce and Rodney Carl, both of whom graduated from Dacoma High School and from Northwestern State College (now Northwestern Oklahoma State University). In 1955, after serving as a substitute rural mail carrier, Dean was appointed to the rural mail carrier position in the Dacoma Post Office. He delivered mail to his patrons through all kinds of weather and wore out several pickup trucks on his mail route. In violation of postal regulations, he often delivered mail and packages directly to the door of his patrons instead of leaving the mail in the mail box beside the country road. He received a “Million Mile Award” from the U.S. Post Office for driving a million accident-free miles. When the Dacoma Post Office was consolidated into the Alva office, Dean was transferred to the Enid Post Office, where he retired. After a few years of retirement in Enid, Dean and Dolores returned to Alva to make their home. Dolores died in November 1999. In October 2001, Dean and his long-time friend Verda E. Smith were married. His family increased by four step-sons and their extended families. Dean was an active member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars for a number of years and was a 32nd Degree Mason. He was a member of the Church of God in both Dacoma and Alva, before joining the Church of Christ a number of years ago. On Veterans Day 2014, Dean was given a Quilt of Valor honoring his service in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Dolores; son, Randy; step-son, Keith Smith; sister and brother-in-law, Jean and Bob Nida; sister-in-law and brother-in-law Dorothy and Loren Rosebery; and nephew, Rex Rosebery. He is survived by his wife, Verda; son, Rod Murrow and wife Carolyn; step-son Craig Smith and wife Ruby; step-son Kurt Smith; step-son Kyle Smith; three grandchildren and six great-grandchildren; six step-grandchildren and eight step-great-grandchildren; other relatives and friends. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions to the Randy Murrow Memorial Scholarship Fund at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, which was established after the death of Dean’s son, Randy Murrow, in December 1969. Other family members honored by donations to the fund include Dolores Murrow, A. L. “Lute” Murrow, Mildred Murrow, Sam Riggs, and Oneita Riggs. The service may be viewed online at: http://citylinktv.com/channel/alva-marshall-funeral-home/

W. Dean Murrow

August 9, 1922 - January 28, 2015