"Mary Alice Murphey was born to Benjamin Harris and Gladys Julia Freeze Murphey on June 1, 1928, in Missoula, Montana. She was the youngest of four children. Her brother, Byron, and sisters, Dorothy Ann and Patricia Lou, were very close growing up and remained close all through the years.
Her early years growing up in Missoula were tough since Mary Alice was only seven when her father died. Her brother and sisters helped guide her to adulthood along with a very courageous and graceful mother who always reminded Mary Alice that her father was in Heaven, and she was never alone with the Lord always by her side.
Mary Alice attended Paxson Grade School and graduated from Missoula County High School in 1946. She attended one year at the University of Montana and was a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. As WWII was ending, she met a brother of one of her many girlfriends who, upon meeting Mary Alice, fell in love with her. She would recall of Bob: "Everywhere I went with my friends, there he was!" Bob Stoick and Mary Alice were married in 1948, and while he finished pharmacy school, she was busy as a young wife preparing for their firstborn son, Bradley John. Robert Byron and Barbara Diane followed and by 1960, she had ten and eight-year-old sons and a two-year-old daughter. She would proudly exclaim, ?My children are dearest to my heart.?
Mary Alice had a strong faith in God. We clearly remember Mom beginning each day with, "This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." Having grown up in the Episcopal church in Missoula, Mom was active with the Holy Spirit Altar Guild and thoroughly enjoyed preparing the church for Sunday services. PEO sisters were also a great comfort to her, and she remained a PEO all her life.
Mom's love of the outdoors started as a young Campfire Girl. When a mother, her favorite vacation was spending time on Flathead
Lake with her children. I especially remember her teaching us how to row a boat. She would make a special occasion out of a moonlit night rowing under the stars and a full moon. Her knowledge of flowers and birds was incredible, and she would keep copious notes in her bird books when traveling.
With her knowledge of bookkeeping, she worked at the family drug store business and later worked in the office at Missoula Manor to be
close to her mother. In 1985, her husband, Bob, passed away and she turned to the Lord for guidance for her future.
Four years later, she got a phone call from her brother, Byron, who asked if she remembered his high school buddy, Gene Hall. Thus, began a phone call friendship between Missoula and Seattle resulting in a June engagement and September wedding in 1989. Neither Gene nor Mary Alice had anticipated a second marriage, but God blessed this union, and they enjoyed 30-1/2 years together. Mary Alice moved into his home in Seattle and became a treasured person to Gene?s three daughters and their families.
In 2001, they sold their home and moved into a cottage at Emerald Heights. When Mary Alice needed the additional help of ?assisted living,? Gene moved into an apartment in the main building to be near her. In the summer of 2018, they found themselves in close proximity again in skilled nursing following Gene?s stroke in 2018. They maintained their devotion to each other in the Corwin Center sharing meals and continuing to look out for each other.
Mary Alice is survived by her three children, Brad, Bob, Barbara and their families; her husband, Gene Hall (age 102), and his three daughters, Nancy, Alice, and Vicki and families. She was also well-loved by the staff in the Corwin Center and will be greatly missed. We are grateful she is enjoying her new home in Heaven assured by her faith in her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
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