[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 105 (Wednesday, September 8, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1563]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    PAYING TRIBUTE TO MRS. ALMA MURR

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. SCOTT McINNIS

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 8, 2004

  Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I rise to 
mourn the life of a remarkable lady from New Castle, Colorado. Alma 
Murr passed away at the age of ninety-seven this past May. She left a 
strong impression on all those whom she met, and her life is an example 
of the constant change and growth that our great country made in the 
past century. I am honored to stand here with my colleagues before this 
body and this nation to recognize her life.
  Alma was born in 1906 in Madison County, Nebraska, and at a young age 
began to deal with big changes and responsibilities when the family 
moved to Lander, Wyoming. When Alma was ten years old, her father died 
of pneumonia, which put her in charge of raising her younger brothers 
and sisters while her mother worked as a cook at the Shoshone and 
Bannock Indian reservations. In 1917, the family moved in a covered 
wagon to Meeker, Colorado, where Alma attended and graduated from high 
school. At twenty-one, Alma married Orel Murr and the couple farmed on 
Beaver Creek, and Rifle before finding their true home near New Castle 
on Colorado's Western Slope.
  Alma and Orel had a working fruit orchard with apples, plums, 
nectarines, apricots, peaches and all sorts of berries. They sold their 
produce at their family-run Peach Valley Market, or at a second family-
run market in the Fort Collins area, and to wholesale markets in nearby 
states. When they had to close the fruit market, the couple turned to 
raising hay. With their hard, painstaking work, Alma and Orel raised 
three children on the eighteen-acre Peach Valley Homestead where Alma 
has lived for sixty-nine years.
  Alma was a caring person who leaves behind a large family that loved 
her for her spirit, and kindness--she was the type of person with whom 
it was easy to become friends. She is survived by her sons Robert and 
Richard, her daughter Phyllis, her sister Evelyn, fourteen grand 
children, eighteen great grand children, and one great great 
grandchild.
  Mr. Speaker, Alma Murr was a kind and generous soul who touched the 
lives of many of the people who met her. She was a strong woman that 
led by example and helped to nourish the members of her Colorado 
community with great devotion and satisfaction in her work. I am 
honored to recognize her life before this body of Congress and this 
nation. My thoughts and prayers go out to Alma's family and friends at 
this difficult time of bereavement.

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