Shlya Atkisson: I have to read the script first and then we can ask questions. This is Shyla
Atkisson. I am-yeah. This is Shyla Atkisson. I am interviewing Judy Murray. We are conducting
this interview at Parkview Christian in Springfield, Missouri. The day is 4/18/2010. This
interview for the Religious Lives of Ozark Women Intergeneration Storytelling from the Older to
the Younger. Conducted through Missouri State University, in Springfield, MO. Ok. We’ll start
with questions, how long have you member of this church?
Judith Murray: Twenty-two years.
S: Mmmkay. How did you get involved here?
J: Well, when we moved to Springfield, my husband left here for a while before I came, we were
living in Oklahoma, we have a house to sell. So I didn’t get to come when he did, but he was
here by himself, but we were real active in Lockland Oklahoma. So he was looking for a church
to, that we could become part of, and at that time it was during the summer and Parkview was
the only church that had an adult Wednesday night program. So he started, that was his first
dealings with Parkview. He started coming to this one. So, then basically when I came he’d
already become familiar with the people and acquainted with them. It was quite a bit different
from our church in OK, but those are adjustments you have to make.
S: How long did you live in OK?
J: We were in OK, for let’s see, probably about 11 years. We were in Lockland, Ok for 11
S: Did you live here first, and then moved to OK.
J: No, I grew up at Lake of the Ozarks and met Henry in Kansas City, we got married in Kansas,
his job transferred to OK. We lived in Enod, and Oklahoma City, and then Laughton.
S: Have you been involved with other churches or religious org, organizations?
J: As a child I grew up in the Lutheran Church, and up ‘til the time I was about 12, we were
active in church, attended Sunday school, vacation bible school, I have memories about that.
Then when we moved-when we moved, my parents started a resort and we were just busy during
the summer time with that, and it just got away from church, for several years. And then, then
Tim and I, all of our married life we had kind of been to church, we knew we needed to be there,
but we didn’t always go. And then we’d go from one to another, whenever we moved to
Laughton we became serious about finding a place where we could worship, and we joined a
Christian church in Laughton.
S: What was the church called? Do you remember?
J: Wester Hills Christian Church, in Laughton, OK
S: What was the role of religion in your home growing up?
J: Well, it was, when I grew up, my dad had been killed in the second world war, and so just my
mom and my sister and I, and we went, we went to church with-mom went sometimes, not
always, but I had an aunt that always made sure that we made it to Sunday school, church. And
as children, that’s what we did.
S: What’s your strongest childhood memory related to God or to religion?
J: Related to God or religion?
S: Mmhmm.
J: God, I think it’s related to God.
S: What’s the strongest memory?
J: Sunday school, when I was little, Sunday school, my aunt was our Sunday school teacher. And
all the Old Testament Bible stories. I learned from her and Sunday school was probably, and
vacation bible school as a child.
S: What was vacation bible school like?
J: It was held during the day like they used to do, you know. And just basically probably, you
remember vacation bible school. Stories, and crafts, and snacks-but it probably lasted for two
weeks, not a shorter like they do now.
S: What do you-do you recall anytime as a child things were different for you in your religious
world because you’re a girl and not a boy?
J: No, I really don’t.
S: What differences have you experienced in your religious life because you are a woman?
J: I don’t know. I don’t know how to answer that. Let’s come back to it, let me think about it
S: Ok, what challenges or struggles have you faced in your religious life?
J: Well, when I first, when we first joined the Christian church, like I said was brought up as a
Lutheran, they’re very structured and very-they just work different was far as baptism and-and
there’s very formal services, they’re very formal. Then when I joined Christian church, it opened
up a whole new aspect of what religion, going to church meant to me, because it was just, that’s
probably that’s when I grew to really learn who Jesus was, let him be the Lord of my life, and up
until then I don’t, that wasn’t the way I felt. So, but, so then I was an adult at that time, I was
probably early forties, maybe, when, when I, we, I became a member of the Christian church.
S: Mmm, was it here?
J: No, it was in Oklahoma
S: Yeah, ok. What person has the most influenced you in your religious life?
J: Well, um, as a child it would have been my aunt. And as an adult probably when we came
here, and I-Ella Caldwell, an older lady here and she was just, if I could be like anyone, I’d want
to be like Ella, she loved the Lord, and you knew it and she never quit serving. She always kept
doing things and you knew, you knew she loved the lord, she had a lot of influence on me, I
think
S: Does that explain how that person…
J: Just by her, the way she lived her life, yeah. She just never quit.
S: How do you think religious life is different for kids today then for you?
J: Then when I was a kid?
S: Mmhmm, or just how do you, how you lived your religious life
J: Ok. Well of course there’s so much more to do as far as activities and the way you learn, you
know we had, with just any kind of learning that has changed, how I was, how it was when I was
in school. And the church has too. Kids now are, I don’t want to say have to be enter-well I will
say, being entertained, having a lot of activities. Things like that. When I was going to Sunday
school I don’t remember things being planned and didn’t even go to camps then. That was , I
don’t know why, but there’s a lot of difference, I think.
S: Do you wish they had camp?
J: Well, and you know, they may have but because of my family situation it was just my mom
wasn’t real involved. And it was either went to church, we go to church on Sundays only there
was never any Wednesday night things planned-or that I knew of as a child. And as teenagers,
during my teenage years, we didn’t go at all
S: Why?
J: Well it started out with our move to Missouri and the job situation having to work on Sunday
and not being able to go. We, the distance to a Lutheran church was a lot further than it was
before. Just a lot of things and then you just get away, you know, you get out of the habit, you
just. You’re not there, you don’t grow, it’s just—
S: [Kind of hard to fall back in place.]
J: Yeah it is, yes. And then, so that was, you know as teenager, most of my adult, young adult
life, until realized there was something missing in our lives. We needed to do something about it.
S: How would like this church to remember you?
J: I love this church. I love the people here.
S: We love you.
J: Thank you. It’s just-well like with Ella Caldwell, she, she worked, she was in her nineties she
was still doing things, I think she went on a mission trip when she was in her eighties.
S: What mission trip?
J: She went with Renee to Haiti, and she went with Jim to Honduras. She did those things. And
she was just, she just never quit, and I, you know, I praise the Lord I’m healthy, I’m in good
health, I stay active. It’s important to keep being able to do what I can, whatever. For His
kingdom.
S: What all do you do in the church? I know you volunteer, cook on Wednesday nights.
J: Cook Wednesday nights. Do nursery. Just a part of the ladies group, whatever activities that’s
going on there. With just recently, since we started the Benevolence Committee, we’re really
active in that hand out (inaudible) on Wednesday nights, and shop for groceries to keep the
pantry full.
S: How long have we been doing that?
J: Probably close to a year
S: Seems like a much longer…
J: Since we’ve had the food pantry, and we’ve had the building open on Mondays so people can
get food.
S: Are you involved with the high school breakfasts?
J: Yes, and I do, I don’t come up and serve all the time
S: Mmhmm
J: When somebody needs, needs to take off I come in, I do a lot of the shopping for it. I do that.
Today we’re doing a luncheon for our, we’re honoring our over-80’s Ladies, so when I get to be
over 80 you can, you can do that for me. Ok
S: I’ll make sure and help. Do you tutor Parkview kids on Wednesdays?
J: I have not.
S: Do you think you might?
J: I really, you know teaching is not my thing. I have taught Sunday school here for, I taught
second grade for quite a few years. And
S: Do you still do it?
J: No, I haven’t. Haven’t taught in classrooms for a long time
S: Why not?
J: I don’t know, I don’t feel like I’m a good teacher. I willing to come in and help when they
need help to, prepare the lessons and do all that. I just would rather do something else.
S: Which is understandable.
J: Yeah.
S: Do you all do all the sports we do?
J: Yep. We bowl and ride bikes.
S: Do you do golfing?
J: I have before, but that’s I don’t particularly like golfing too much.
S: It’s usually a men’s sport.
J: Yeah, I think-well Virginia Davis would probably not think so, she’s a golfer.
S: But here you probably see a lot of the guys doing it
J: Yeah. And Jim’s a big golfer so. More I’m not a real competitive person and so I’m those type
of things I don’t particularly like to do. But I love, I like to hike and be outside and just things
like that. Oh, and I still fill for Debbie when she decides she needs time off, I fill in as secretary
for her.
S: Want to tell me what you did when you were secretary?
J: Oh my. When we first moved here we’d only lived here, we moved in July and in November I
started working at as secretary here at the church, and it was the probably the best thing that
happened. Because it had, I knew everybody. It’s just a great way to become acquainted with
people and learn about them and learn about the church and just being a part of it, and I did that
for 16 years. So you see a lot of people come and go and a lot of people that stay and they’rethey were our family, because we came just the two of us, and we didn’t know anybody living in
Springfield at all. And Parkview became our family and it still is.
S: Are there still people that you knew that still come?
J: Lots. Lots of people. And we’ve seen lots of new people come.
S: How people that you knew when you were secretary that moved and just come visit every
once in a while?
J: I don’t know, because there’s people that come-filter in and out of Parkview all the time, they
leave, the come back. They, it’s funny in talk, you talk to people out in the world, like at the
bank. Yeah, I talked to people and they’ll say ‘oh, you’re the church that does the breakfast for
high school.’ And how we started doing that.
S: How did we get started doing that?
J: It was, when we first came here, the church, our church in Watton was doing a doughnut
ministry for kids. And so we got, the high school was right here, so we kind of got going, June
and I got the doughnut ministry going and then it just grew Bruce came, he’s the one that gotand the new building was built so we had a place to do it
S: More room.
J: Yeah, more room. So we’ve been doing it ever since that building started in1991 I think it was.
So its.-its been really successful. I’ve been part of that, that’s been fun, at one part we had the
first kid that came for breakfast for several weeks we only had that one, two, three kids come.
And the first kid that came, he stayed until he graduated. And then he left, and then he came back
and he got in touch with us and a couple of times, he came and worked at the breakfast, and that
was the first kid we ever had over there.
S: Do you remember his name?
J: Josh was his first name, and I don’t remember what his last name was. But people, I’ll have
people say, ‘oh I used to go to church there,’ so there’s lots of people that have gone to church at
Parkview. And maybe location, or whatever they’ve left and gone somewhere else. But a lot of
people know about the church
S: Do you miss being secretary here?
J: Well, yes and no. I like going back and filling in for Debbie, You know getting back into it a
little, but I really enjoy my time to do what I want to do. I spend a lot of it with grandchildren
and just if I want to ride my bike, I ride my bike. If I don’t want to. Or I can to what I want to.
So…
S: Ok, I’m going to start on the info. sheet. Where were you born?
J: I was born in Illinois, you want the town?
S: Huh?
J: You want the name of the town?
S: Yeah
J: Ok, Sterling. Illinois
S: I spelled ‘Illinois’ wrong. I’ll correct it later, how do you spell Sterling?
J: S-T-E-R-L-I-N-G
S: What’s your full name, including your middle, maiden name?
J: Ok, it’s Judith, J-U-D-I-T-H. Ann, A-N-N. My maiden name’s Pearson, P-E-A-R-S-O-N.
Murray.
S: Did you have any nicknames, like pet names?
J: No, other than just Judi. The only person that would call me Judith was my mom when she’d
get upset with me.
S: Yeah. Places of residence? Like you lived…
J: Current place of residence?
S: Like you lived in, Oklahoma.
J: Yeah, we lived, and we lived in Kansas City.
S: How many years?
J: Let’s see, probably about six years.
S: Where else?
J: And then we moved to Enide, Oklahoma.
S: How do you spell Enide?
J: E-N-I-D-E. We were there for three years. And we lived in-you want all these listed?
S: It just says, as much as possible
J: Ok. Oklahoma City
S: [inaudible] spell it right.
J: We were there for three years.
S: In Oklahoma.
J: Yeah. And then to Lawton. L-A-W-T-O-N.
S: Lawton…?
J: Oklahoma. And we lived there for 11 years.
S: Don’t you have a relative in Oklahoma?
J: We have a daughter that lives in Tulsa.
S: I remember, we went on a bike ride over there.
J: Yeah, yeah we did. And then to Springfield, and we’ve been here for 22 years.
S: Not to be rude, but what is your current age?
J: 68
S: And date of birth?
J: November 26th, 1941.
S: What was your education like?
J: High school, just high school.
S: And that was where?
J: In Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri. It would probably just be called Lake, cross out ‘of the’. It’s
just Lake Ozark [inaudible]
S: [inaudible] Lake of the Ozarks.
J: Do you need children’s names?
S: Mkay.
J: Kellie, K-E-L-L-I-E. You need last names?
S: You can put them if you want
J: Rodiger is her last name. R-O-D-I-G-E-R, and Julie, J-U-L-I-E, Emanuel, E-M-A-N-U-E-L.
And Quinn, Q-U-I-N-N Murray.
S: Alright. How old is Quinn?
J: He’s forty.
S: Is there anything else you want to say?
J: Ok, what was that one?
S: I think it was what childhood struggles have you faced, or was it a different one?
J: Yeah, maybe. Well I think it was…oh what differences have you experienced in your religious
life because you’re a woman?
S: Ok, I forgot that one, sorry.
J: I don’t that there, that there really are any that I, that I feel. I don’t feel like I need to be a
leader in the church. I’m happy in the status that I’m in now, you know. That hasn’t been an
issue with me.
S: I thought of something, now I forgot. Ok, do have anything else you would like to say?
J: No, well, the only thing I really regret the years from the time that I was 12 till I was 40, that I
did not, that the Lord wasn’t part of our life. You know, He was there, I still knew who He was,
but probably those years of my life would have been different if He had been part of my life.
S: Do you think you’d still be here?
J: I don’t know, you know? That’s-who knows.
S: So if you went back in time, would that be the thing you change?
J: Really, I would like to change that yeah, but it just made, when you don’t have the Lord in
your life, you’re trying to do things on your own, it’s just, it’s too tough.
S: Right, too tough.
J: Teenage years, I did not like my teenage years, they were hard, and I was a rebellious
teenager. So there was probably-my life would have been different I think if, my walk with the
Lord would have been different at that time. So yeah, I would like to change that part, who
knows where He would have, but maybe that’s was all His plan anyhow. Jeramiah 29:11 is one
of my favorite verses. You know that, His plans-He knows what his plans are for you, so.
S: So if you did change thing do you think you would be like here, or would you have met Jim?
J: Maybe not. You know? So I don’t know.
S: It’s just funny, you have to think about.
J: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just leave it alone and just be thankful that we’re where we are now.
S: Okay. If you don’t have anything else to say I think we’re done.
J: Ok.
S: Try to turn this off.