Betty Murray, a Reisterstown homemaker, was known for two things: the Christian principle of selflessly loving her neighbors and a half-century's collection of toy pigs.
"She had them in ceramic and jade and crystal, in the shape of clocks and cookie jars and toothpick dispensers hundreds of them," said her son, Kevin Murray, who lived with her. "She had pigs from all over the world."
Mrs. Murray, a native of Pittsburgh, died at home Monday after suffering an apparent heart attack. She was 71.
Born Betty Darlene Stanyard, the daughter of a railroad man, she was educated in Pittsburgh public schools and graduated from high school in 1946. While attending high school, she made a little money for herself selling tickets at a downtown movie theater. It was then that she met her husband, the late Earl G. Murray, at a pool hall next door to the cinema.
The couple, along with their four children, lived in the Pittsburgh area for the next 20 years. In 1966, Mr. Murray, a Western Electric Co. engineer, was transferred to Maryland and the family settled in Reisterstown. He died in 1992.
An avid bowler, Mrs. Murray was a regular in tenpin leagues at the Bowl America in Reisterstown. She also enjoyed a good game of pinochle and could whip up a pot of spaghetti sauce or a batch of cookies in the wink of an eye.
She was a great fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers and she loved to read -- especially books on spirituality and the works of Stephen King. She rarely missed an episode of "The Price Is Right," "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!"
But more than all of this, said those who knew her, Betty Murray had a huge and golden heart.
"She found her joy in making other people happy," said Eleanor Shooter, who lived next-door to the Murray family in a suburb of Pittsburgh and remembered Mrs. Murray's delicious potato salad from backyard picnics.
"She must have made the greeting card companies rich because she always mailed cheer-up cards to the sick and lonely, and often enclosed a small amount of money," Mrs. Shooter said. "Sometimes she sent cards just for love."
A nondenominational Christian, Mrs. Murray enjoyed going to various churches with friends.
Services will be held at 10 a.m. today at the Eline Funeral Home, 11824 Reisterstown Road in Reisterstown.
Other survivors include another son, Keith D. Murray, and two daughters, Linda A. Harman and Janet R. Murray, all of Orlando, Fla.; a sister, Lois Jean Boyle of Clearwater, Fla.; and four grandchildren.
The family requests that memorial donations be made to the charity of the donor's choice.
Pub Date: 3/05/99