Margaret Barton Murdock, loving wife, mother and grandmother, passed away on May 25, 2011, in Gooding, Idaho. She was born Oct. 2, 1919, in Carey, Idaho, where she resided for 84 of her 91 years. Margaret attended the Carey School, where she made lifelong friends. She was the "running center" of the high school girls' basketball team, and graduated from Carey High School in 1937.
Her father was a sheep rancher, and Margaret and her siblings learned the value of hard work while working in the family hayfields and cooking for grain threshers. She learned to play the piano when she was 7 years old and began playing as an organist for the Carey LDS Ward Primary when she was 11. She was an organist for the LDS church for a total of 70 years, and took great pride in playing for countless weddings, funerals and various other programs. She had a dynamic style of playing the organ that a person didn't have to see her play to know that she was responsible for the sound of the music they were hearing. Margaret taught 40 piano students a week in her home for many years.
During the years of 1941-1943, she served a mission for the LDS church in the Eastern States Mission. She was married in the Salt Lake City, Utah, Temple on June 2, 1943, to Thomas Verd Murdock and they were blessed with eight children. When Margaret's youngest child went to school, she began teaching the first grade and later the second grade at the Carey School. She retired in 1984 after 20 years of teaching. She and her husband were noted for their well-manicured yard, and she enjoyed growing beautiful flowers. They also raised a huge vegetable garden every year of their married life.
After retirement, she served with her husband as an ordinance worker in the Boise, Idaho, Temple until 2006. She also served as a family history missionary for the LDS Church in 1993.
Margaret is survived by her husband of 68 years, Thomas Verd Murdock of Carey, and by eight children, Dianne Parke (Darwin) of Carey, Mary Hansen (Duane) of South Jordan, Utah, Jim Murdock (Claudia) of Idaho Falls, Idaho, Gary Murdock of Idaho Falls, Bart Murdock (Karen) of Burley, Idaho, Peggy Merrell (Dean) of Mesa, Ariz., Cindy Bennion (Doug) of Billings, Mont., and Jolene Maguire (Mark) of Beaverton, Ore. She is also survived by one sister, Beth Jenne (Dave) of Mattawa, Wash., 37 grandchildren and 66 great-grandchildren.
Services were held at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, May 31, at the Carey LDS Church with President Dan Parke conducting. Burial followed at the Carey Cemetery.
Friends and family may visit www.woodriverchapel to leave condolences. Services are under the care of Wood River Chapel.
