Emma Beatrice Murray

Emma Murray was born Emma Beatrice Monks in Poteet, Texas, to Christopher Columbus Monks and Molly S Monks. She had two siblings, Bessie and Woodrow. She graduated from Poteet High School and married Charles Chester Baldwin in 1939.

Charles Chester was a career soldier whose commitment took him about the country, and together Emma and Charles had four children, Gary Lynn Baldwin in 1940, Ella Charlene Baldwin in 1942, James Lester Baldwin in 1943 and Charles Earnest Baldwin in 1944. The Baldwin family settled in California, where Charles taught ROTC at Long Beach High School and Emma remained busy with the four children.

After Charles, by then a Master Sergeant, returned from 2 years in Korea in 1952, he retired and the family moved to Vancouver, Washington. Emma, always wanting to be independent, went to night school to gain skills that would allow her to work. Charles died unexpectedly in 1953, leaving Emma with four children and a mortgage.

Emma met David Murray, a handsome Tongue Point Naval Station fireman from Astoria, Oregon, and they soon married and the family moved to Astoria in 1954. Emma B. Murray soon began civil service work for the Navy at Tongue Point. Together, she and Dave, established a home and raised the four kids.

The Naval base closed in 1961, and Emma and Dave found Navy jobs in Oakland, Reno and finally Oak Harbor, Washington, before they finally retired in 1979 and moved to Rogue River, Oregon, where Dave had grown up. They wintered in Yuma, Arizona, and spent the summers in Rogue River until Dave’s untimely death in 1981.

Emma sold the home in Rogue River and moved back to Astoria to be close to her family. She continued to winter at her home in Yuma well in to her 80s, and enjoyed the company of many friends, including Canadian widower Albert Spencer. Together they enjoy golfing, dancing, cruise ship travel and gaming.

After Albert’s death Emma stayed closer to home and enjoyed bingo nights at the Elks and Legion, and her daily swims at the Astoria Aquatic Center. She still took bus excursions by herself to Lincoln City, and occasionally to Reno, where she always seems to come away with more money than she took. She often drove her friends around on outings to various local spots until her son Charlie, from whom she rented her duplex on Lexington Street, after a few minor scrapes and near misses, had to end her driving career.

Emma remained independent until age 90, when she moved to Clatsop Retirement Village, an assisted care center in Astoria. She continued to swim and take a cab to the Elks and Legion for occasional “nights out” until health issues slowed her down.

She lived a full and meaningful life. She was a member of Eastern Star, The Astoria Elk, The American Legion Auxiliary and the Astoria Moose, where she served as senior regent.

Emma passed away quietly on July 30, 2013, at age 94. She is preceded in death by her sister Bessie and brother Woodrow, her beloved daughter Ella Charlene Griffin and her grandson Charles Chester Baldwin. She is survived by her three sons Gary Baldwin and his wife Tanya, James Baldwin and his wife Lucy and Charlie Baldwin and his wife Carol. She has 10 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren and 2 great-great-grandchildren.

She will be buried alongside her daughter in a quiet family service at Greenwood Cemetery in Astoria.