On the 5th of August in 1958, Thomas John Mark McMurray Jr. was born in Buffalo, NY to Marjorie Ciembor and Thomas McMurray Sr. The family soon relocated and settled in Kansas City for a time, where much of the McMurray family resided. It was there on the Kansas side that his sister Sharon was born in 1961 and eight years later, on the Missouri side, that his younger brother Mark, who Tom had the honor of naming, was born.
One of Tom's most memorable and proud times of his childhood revolved around being an altar boy for Redemptorist Catholic Church. During this time in Kansas City, their family temporarily increased by eight as his parents adopted his nieces and nephews in an effort to keep them together after Tom's uncle died suddenly and unexpectedly. Eventually, all thirteen of them picked up and moved to Phoenix, AZ.
As Tom grew into a young man, he proudly served in the ROTC throughout his high school years. In 1978 he married his high school sweetheart, Connie Marco. Connie's father put Tom to work teaching him the trade that would quickly become his life's career as an electrician. Tom and Connie happily chose a life without children, and so it remained until they divorced ten years later. Life then changed dramatically when Tom met Lisanne Greco in 1988.
Lisanne came already equipped with a family in the form of her son Taj and Tom quickly fell in love with both of them. That spring, Tom had the honor of walking his sister down the aisle at her wedding and then by December's end, Tom and Lisanne were also united in marriage in the midst of a gentle Vermont snowstorm. It was September of 1989, when they welcomed their first daughter, Nikole, into the world, while also officially adopting Taj. Then in June 1992, Tom nearly delivered their second daughter, Jahnee, himself when the midwife arrived with barely 5 minutes to spare. Throughout the years, Tom's priority was always his family. He was a hard working provider, a thoughtful husband and a diligent father to his children.
In 1996, a series of circumstances brought Tom to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. It took but a moment for the family to follow suit. Then in 1998, Tom suffered a debilitating back injury while coming off a ladder at work. This injury eventually took him out of his lifelong career as an electrician and played havoc with his life in the years to come. But it never stopped him completely. Tom continued to pursue his love of guns, motorcycle riding, fishing, gardening and of course, "saleing". Not to mention that he not only becoming a grill master extraordinaire, but turned out one culinary masterpiece after another in the kitchen, all to his family's delight!
In 1999, he and Lisanne founded the groundbreaking outreach ministry LIGHTDANCERS, which throughout the years has reached a multitude of women with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Then in 2001, the McMurray family picked up stakes and headed to Kansas. Unfortunately, by 2005 Tom was divorced once again. But in 2012, Tom became a Grandpa for the first time and life was new again! "Papa Mac" was loved to pieces by his little Ava Mae whom he absolutely adored. Together he shared his love of all things great and small with this little angel who stole his heart with her first breath.
Despite facing many of his own personal struggles, Tom had a way of making fast friends out of strangers wherever he went. It was little acts of kindness that placed him in the right place at the right time and resulted in the life saving intervention of others on three separate occasions. And if there was ever a need to be met, Tom was always the first to give you the shirt off of his back if need be. He also had an insatiable desire to feed anyone who walked through his door, something he learned well from his Mom, so no one ever got out of his kitchen without sampling a good plateful of his latest creations. Tom had a tremendous heart and will be missed by many more than he could ever have imagined for on June 29, 2015 still hoping for a way through his pain, Tom relinquished the fight and traded his life with those who loved him, for eternal life beyond this world. For to be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord.
Tom was preceded in death by his father Tom McMurray Sr. and his mother, Margie McMurray. He is survived by his son Taj McMurray, daughter Nikole McMurray Wadlington and husband Josh Wadlington, daughter Jahnee McMurray and fiancé Mitchell Sturchio, granddaughter Ava Mae Sturchio and ex-wife Lisanne Hix all of Winfield, KS; his brother Mark McMurray, sister Sharon and husband Dale Sypherd, niece Stephanie Sypherd, niece Samantha and husband Ryan Ramsey, all of Phoenix, AZ.
A memorial service will be held in Tom's honor at First Christian Church of Winfield at 904 Alexander on Saturday August 1, 2015 at 4pm. Pastor Harold Gross will be presiding over the services.