EILEEN THERESA MURRAY-NOONAN
(December 17, 1931 – June 4, 2022)
Eileen Murray-Noonan died of natural causes on Sunday, June 4, in Santa Clarita, California. Her daughter, Paula, was by her side at the time of her passing.
Eileen was born in 1931 in Clinton, Iowa near her family’s farm outside Charlotte, IA to parents Valery Joseph Costello and Ella Theresa O’Brien. She attended grade school in nearby Petersville, graduated from Charlotte, IA, High School, as Valedictorian in 1950, and later earned her Commercial Skills Associates degree at Mount St. Clare College in Clinton.
Shortly after establishing her professional career as a Corporate Administrative Assistant, she met her 1st husband, Clyde Alden Murray, through work in Clinton, IA. They married in 1954. They relocated a number of times for work-related transfers, started their family, and eventually settled in Knox, IN in early 1965, where she lived for over 50 years. She quickly embraced and engaged in the community, joining the St. Thomas Aquinas Parish and doing everything from Cub Scout Den Mother, joining the PTA, establishing a local Welcome Wagon program for new residents, working as a rep for government-assisted food services during the 1970’s recession, teaching piano lessons, and more, all while maintaining the family household and raising 5 kids. As the kids became school age, she returned to a role as an administrative assistant for a few local attorney’s offices for several years, before later obtaining her real estate license and eventually opening her own Real Estate Office, Murray Real Estate, which she ran until her retirement. She continued active community involvement as a member of the Knox Senior Center Silver Sneakers group, and was a fixture as the organist for St. Thomas Aquinas Church services – a role she embraced for almost 40 years.
A gifted artist, musician, and writer, Mom thoroughly enjoyed and regularly shared her many projects ranging from paintings, quilts, dried flower arrangements, poems & stories, and more at the local 4H Fair and frequent library exhibits. These projects brought her tremendous joy.
Following Clyde’s death in 2004, Eileen later married Patrick Noonan in 2011, who died in 2018.
Alongside Clyde and Patrick, Mom loved traveling, and she took many trips around the country to see attractions and visit family and friends, including Paris and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. She often said her retirement years were some of the most fun and treasured of her life because it made everything she had done to that point worth it.
In addition to her 2 husbands, she was preceded in death by her parents and brothers Jim, Gil, Mike, and Paul.
She is survived by her sister Marie and brothers John, Ralph, and Don…her children Greg, Darrell, Paula, Rod, and Beth…grandchildren Caitlin Sutphin; Megan & William Murray; Denise, Doug, & Aaron Keiser; Christopher, Brett, Alec, & Joel Mouser; and 4 great-grandchildren, Caden, Cohen, Melody, & Heidi.
She was a blessed soul and a gift to all who knew and loved her. She will be dearly missed, but we know a wonderful reunion is already underway in Heaven.
Eileen’s wishes for cremation and burial are underway. Tentative plans call for a dedication Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Knox, and burial in Lindley Prairie Cemetery outside Fair Play, MO, in mid-July.
