Thae E. Murdock

Thae Ellen Reitzel Murdock was born on Dec. 29th 1923 in Cambridge, Mass and passed away Oct 30th 2015 at Mary’s Woods Lake Oswego, Oregon with her daughter’s Linn Murdock Wofford and Kate Murdock Jakola by her side. She was born to adventurous parents, Doctor Raymond J. Reitzel and Gail Berg Reitzel. Thae grew up first in Boston where her father attended Harvard medical school then moved to Texas where he did his residency, eventually settling the family in San Mateo Calif. Thae attended the University of California Berkeley graduating with honors in History. St Paul’s Episcopal Church in San Mateo was where she met and married her husband the Rev. William Barton Murdock. Their first date was to an opera, the second date to a boxing match. She quickly realized that life with this man would never be boring. They married in the summer of 1949. Thae spent much of her early married life in San Jose with her husband Bart, Rector at Trinity Episcopal Church. She was a devoted mother to their three children Linn, Gordon and Kate. She was politically active during this time marching with her husband for civil rights. She was proud to be married to a man that believed a woman could and should be whatever they wanted to be, including being ordained as a minister. From here she set out on a path that connected her with a theater group, The Royal Lichtenstein ¼ Ring Circus that spread the gospel in a different way and allowed her to express her talents through producing, design and poetry. When she and her husband retired they decided they would move to Oregon where their three children were living. Active in retirement with their church in Newberg, Thae went back to school to become a deacon in the church and worked with the migrant community. During this period in her live she started writing. A lifelong learner she had always loved poetry and started writing. It was a source of great comfort and pride for her to share these writings with her family and eventually with her fellow writers at Mary’s Woods. Thae sat on multiple committees but was most proud of setting up the Treasure Trove to raise money for the resident’s fund. She delighted in her children and most particularly her grandchildren Samuel, Edward and Nicholas Jakola and great granddaughter Aurora Jakola along with daughter-in-law Desirae and her son-in-laws, Len Wofford and Michael Jakola. All will remember her as a woman of tremendous character, generosity of spirit and amazing grace. She will be sorely missed.