{"id":45056,"date":"2023-07-26T08:32:37","date_gmt":"2023-07-26T12:32:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelandmark.com\/?p=45056"},"modified":"2023-07-26T08:32:37","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T12:32:37","slug":"sterling-says-goodbye-to-murray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/2023\/07\/26\/sterling-says-goodbye-to-murray\/","title":{"rendered":"Sterling says goodbye to Murray"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Danielle Ray<\/em>
\nLandmark correspondent<\/em><\/p>\n

STERLING \u2014 Community members came out in full force recently to pay tribute to beloved town resident Terry Murray and to comfort her family in their time of loss.<\/p>\n

Theresa (Faubert) Murray, 74, peacefully passed away at home July 13 surrounded by her loving and supportive family, who were by her side in the hospital and then back at home since she suffered a heart attack in April. The long line that snaked through Miles-Sterling Funeral & Tribute Center for her wake on July 20 was a true testament to how much everyone adored Terry, a longtime town hall staff member who always greeted everyone with a smile and her kind, soft demeanor.<\/p>\n

More than two dozen beautiful, vibrant flower arrangements decorated the funeral home, and people greeted each other warmly, hugging and chatting while patiently waiting for hours to see Terry\u2019s family. For a somber occasion, there was a lot of smiling and reminiscing \u2014 it felt like a town reunion of sorts.<\/p>\n

A video screen played a slideshow of images from family vacations and gatherings, pictures filled with a lot of love. Her tightknit family, including her husband of 55 years and former Select Board member Don Murray, daughters Dawn Metcalf and Jennifer Murray, grandkids and great-grandchildren and extended family welcomed the comfort poured onto them by the hundreds of people who showed up, including fire, police, DPW, town hall staff, family, friends, and many more.<\/p>\n

Every available seat was filled half an hour before the 10:30 a.m. celebration of life service held the following morning at Miles, which came as no surprise to anyone. The Murray family is well-known in town and adored by many. People sang along softly when \u201cCountry Roads,\u201d, one of Terry\u2019s favorite songs, was played, and the Reverend Cindy Maybeck led everyone in the Lord\u2019s Prayer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis morning we gather in love to celebrate a life,\u201d Maybeck told the large crowd. \u201cThere is a tenderness, a brokenness. Know that you are loved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dawn\u2019s voice broke as she talked about her mom with her sister Jennifer by her side. Terry was the youngest of four girls, and Dawn shared that their family\u2019s strong bond \u201cis immeasurable.\u201d Dawn talked about her father being \u201cswept away\u201d by Terry when they met at an ice cream shop, and joked about her mom \u201cbasically raising triplets, God bless her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one wanted to babysit us,\u201d Dawn quipped about her and Jennifer and their late sister Becky, who died Aug. 14, 1995, at the age of 23.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe always loved us unconditionally,\u201d Dawn said of her mom, adding that when Becky got sick, Terry took care of her, the ultimate form of \u201cunconditional love\u201d that a parent feels for their child.<\/p>\n

\u201cMom worshipped her children and great-grandchildren \u2026 and always had loving arms open for all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

She spoke of her mother’s attributes, including being \u201cso kind to everyone\u201d and her \u201csilly\u201d side. Dawn said that as a family with three daughters and numerous friends coming in and out of their Upper North Row Road family home at all times of the day when they were growing up, things could get noisy.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe would say in her little voice, \u2018Can you please turn down the music?\u2019,\u201d Dawn said, which drew chuckles from the crowd. \u201cMom was one of the most gentle, beautiful people to walk the earth. Be kind to one another and always leave the light on in the kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jennifer said a dragonfly had recently come to visit them, \u201ca sign we needed,\u201d and as she fought back tears said, \u201cWe will be OK, we will just miss her for a while. We love you all.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was not a dry eye in the house after the girls’ reminiscences and another favorite song of Terry\u2019s played, \u201cLord\u2019s My Shepherd\u201d by Stuart Townsend. Rev. Maybeck got up again and encouraged everyone to share stories and memories about Terry with the family on their own, quipping that if she opened up the microphone at the funeral, \u201cWe would be here all day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Terry Murray as a child. Daughter Becky, who died at age 23, was the spitting image of her mother.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Maybeck read some scripture before giving a touching meditation talk about Terry and her beautiful legacy of love titled \u201cHarvesting Love and Care.\u201d Maybeck highlighted how Terry worked in the town treasurer\u2019s office for 37 years, most recently as the assistant collector, and that she enjoyed greeting people and welcoming them to the town hall, a way that \u201cshe showed her care.\u201d<\/p>\n

She talked about Terry being an avid gardener and green thumb, a plant lover who joked that she was \u201cfeeding the chipmunks with whatever she was growing.\u201d Terry was also an animal lover, and the greatest joy in her life was spending time with her family and her large network of friends and acquaintances, members of the Terry fan club.<\/p>\n

\u201cTerry created a home for an entire generation,\u201d Maybeck said of Terry and Don opening up their home to their daughters\u2019 many friends, and said directly to her family that \u201cnothing on earth can separate you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reverend spoke about Becky being diagnosed with liver cancer and being given six months to live. Miraculously, she lived another five years surrounded by her loving family.<\/p>\n

Maybeck recalled that there was \u201can incredible lightning storm\u201d the night Terry died, likening the force of nature to \u201ca whole bunch of selfies of Terry and Becky.\u201d She wrapped up her thoughts by saying that Terry\u2019s time on Earth was \u201ca life that made a difference to everyone who came upon her path.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we remember Terry, we are grateful for the legacy of love and care,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The funeral procession went past the Murray homestead on Upper North Row before traveling to Hillside Cemetery, where Terry was laid to rest. The Sterling Fire Department had trucks with lights on parked in front of the fire station to pay tribute to Terry and for the long line of vehicles that made their way through downtown on the way to the cemetery. A reception at the Eight Point Sportsmen\u2019s Club followed the burial.<\/p>\n

The weather the night of Terry\u2019s celebration of life? A deluge of rain followed by an oddly quiet and stunning lightning and thunder show that went on for hours. It was as if Terry and Becky were saying \u201cWe\u2019re here watching over everyone. We\u2019re OK, and we love you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Danielle Ray Landmark correspondent STERLING \u2014 Community members came out in full force recently to pay tribute to beloved town resident Terry Murray and to comfort her family in their time of loss. Theresa (Faubert) Murray, 74, peacefully passed away at home July 13 surrounded by her loving and supportive family, who were by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45086,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-obituaries"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}