A Funeral Service was held Monday, June 3, 2019, at the First Baptist Church, Long Prairie for Chuck McMurray, age 87 of Long Prairie, MN who passed away on Friday, May 31, 2019, at the CentraCare Hospital in Long Prairie. Pastor Matt Stacey officiated and burial was in Evergreen Cemetery.
Charles “Chuck” was born on November 3, 1931 to Charles and Edith (Lee) McMurray in Greenfield, IA. He grew up in East Moline, IL. He graduated from United Township High School and went on to attend the Baptist Bible Seminary in Grand Rapids, MI. This is where he met Alice Spence in 1956. Soon after their marriage in 1957, the couple moved to Brainerd, MN where he began the career that he cherished for 58 years. Chuck worked as a commercial artist for Cathedral Press. In 1965 he moved to Long Prairie. He did the work he loved with the people he loved until he retired. Chuck was an avid reader leaving his family with hundreds of books. He also loved to draw and paint. He traveled throughout the world on several mission trips. Chuck’s genuine heart and love for people was recognized by all who met him. He cherished his time with his grandchildren. He especially liked to share with them his love of ice cream– eaten the right way, with a fork. More than anything, he loved his Lord and Savior and will be reunited in Heaven with many that went before him as a result of his impact on their lives. He lived out the verse from Hebrew 12, “…let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith,” and is now running the streets of gold, healthy and whole, with the Savior he served so faithfully throughout his life.
Chuck will be dearly missed by his wife Alice, son Brian (Roxanne) McMurray, Shoreview; daughters Denise (Gregg) Westerberg, Columbia Heights; Colleen (Jerry) Logelin, Cross Lake; Melissa (Mick) Ziebell, Baxter; half-brother, Rex McMurray, Warsaw, IN; 10 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his parents, an infant daughter and six siblings.