Mrs. Eva Ruth Murrell

Eva Ruth Murrell was born Eva Ruth Greenlee on Aug 2nd, 1922 in Asheville, North Carolina and was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her mother, Earlie Greenlee, was a homemaker, and her father, Albert Greenlee worked at the local steel mill, and together they had six children, of whom Eva Ruth was the eldest. Eva Ruth is the wife of Dr. Peter Murrell Sr., and loving mother to Peggy, Peter, Linda, and James Murrell and her grandson Michael Murrell, whom she raised from his infancy. Eva Ruth had a lifelong devotion to the pursuit of knowledge and enrichment of the mind, both for herself and her family. Raised in a working class family during the Depression in urban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she understood that the key to success and upward mobility lied in education. Eva Ruth excelled in school, culminating with graduation from the University of Pittsburgh in 1944 where she received a Bachelors of Science in Commercial Education. As a student at the University of Pittsburgh, she was active in a wide variety of service organizations, including the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, the Urban League and the Lyceum group. Eva Ruth supported herself through college by performing clerical work for the US government during the summer months in Washington DC. Upon graduation from college, she returned to Washington DC to begin work as a typist for the US government. While pursuing her career, Eva Ruth remained active in education, both as a student and teacher in the evenings. She both taught typing at the Cortez Peters Business School as well as took courses at Howard University. Among her academic endeavors at this time was the study of Sociology under one of the eminent sociologists of the era, Dr. E. Franklin Frazier. In February of 1947, Eva Ruth met Dr. Peter C. Murrell, as a dental patient at the Howard University Dental Clinic. From this introduction, Eva Ruth and Peter dated steadily until they married in September of the same year. In August of 1948, Dr. Peter Murrell relocated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to begin his own independent dental practice. Three months later, Eva Ruth joined him in Wisconsin where she gave birth to their first child, Peggy Joyce Murrell on December 21st, 1948. In the following year, Eva Ruth began working for the Housing Authority of Milwaukee (Hillside) as an office administrator and bookkeeper, where she worked until she joined her husband in military service when he was called in April of 1951. Until April of 1953, they lived in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where she gave birth to their second child, Peter Charles Murrell, Jr. Upon their return to Milwaukee in April of 1953, Eva Ruth began her long and prolific career in teaching as an instructor at the Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) in their evening Business Education Program. In the 1960s, she became a substitute teacher for the Milwaukee Public School system (MPS) while she raised her family, which included the addition of Linda and James Murrell. Upon their completion from school, she devoted herself full-time to teaching in MPS from the 1970s until her retirement in 1990. While she retired formally from MPS, her devotion to teaching continued, in the pursuit of education for the family's newest arrival, their grandson, Michael Murrell. Like the generation before him, Michael's education was not only in the classroom, but was supplemented by Eva Ruth's home education, in reading, writing, languages, and mathematics. Peter and Eva Ruth's children have grown to become leaders in their fields, from journalism and theater to engineering and academia. Many of her children have gone on to become educators themselves. Survivors include Peter, Sr., her husband of 66 years; 2 sons, Peter Jr. (Terry) and James (Yvette); 2 daughters, Peggy and Linda; 2 brothers, James Greenlee (Ruth) and Charles Greenlee; sister Jane Mabrey; 7 grandchildren; 4 great-grandchildren and 1 goddaughter. Eva Ruth is also survived by many cousins, nieces, nephews and friends. At Ruth's request, there will be no funeral or memorial service.

Mrs. Eva Ruth Murrell

August 2, 1922 - June 14, 2014