Dates
Merle Murphy Truesdell of San Angelo went home with Jesus, her Lord and Savior, on Aug. 30th, 2025. She was born in Breckenridge Texas on January 02, 1925 to parents, Cliff and Rose (Williams) Murphy. During the early days of the Texas-Oklahoma Oil Booms, Merle and her younger sister, Kathryn (Katie), moved with their family back and forth across state lines, until the Great Depression led them back to Oklahoma where Merle attended schools in Owasso and Tulsa. The radio was the "cutting-edge technology of the day," and on Sundays, Merle’s mother took them to see and hear Bob Wills’ band broadcast live at noon, on KVOO. Sundays were their family day, and the music created a longing for Texas (home) in her heart that never left.
Independent and curious to explore her Texas roots, Merle rode a bus out to San Angelo where she met her Aunt Lois’s family. She lived with them in Iraan until she graduated from high school and met “West Texas Tom” Truesdell. While Tom finished his senior year, she went back to Tulsa and attended business college. They married the next year at Mother Holmes Baptist Church in Sheffield, then Tom was called into service during WWII. Merle watched over their parents and her siblings, while working briefly as a “Rosie the Riveter” in Oklahoma. Then she returned to Iraan, where she held down the fort for the desire of her heart: a beautiful family that God was gathering back in Texas. Over the next 43 years, Tom and Merle raised their 4 children and built a wonderful life on ranches and in the oilfields of good old West Texas.
Merle loved the Lord, and she included Jesus in her daily walk, in both spirit and in step. Walking was her vibe! She loved cooking wonderful meals for family and friends, sewing, and gardening. After Tom passed, she moved to San Angelo where she was a volunteer at Community Hospital and the Tom Green County Adult Literacy Council. She found a church, and made friends and unforgettable Sunday dinners, where afterwards she would invite guests to sit down and play a lively game of cards (if you dared)! Merle asked God to show her how to navigate change. And He did, Amen! And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” —Luke 24:32, NKJV Merle lived in the Village East Retirement Community for 20 years, and Proverbs 3:5-6 frames her legacy.
Merle was preceded in death by her husband, W.T. “Tom” Truesdell, their beloved parents, her daughters Lois Nell Wagley and Mary Beth Golson, sisters Kathryn Whitefield and Elizabeth Coerver, brothers Patrick and Clifford Murphy, and Richard Dean Bankston.
Merle is survived by her son, Thomas Lee Truesdell and wife Yvonne of Canyon Lake, her daughter Lisa Annette Truesdell of San Angelo, her grandsons Scott Akins and wife Shannon of Abilene, Blake Akins and wife Amy of Flower Mound, Thomas Truesdell of Lubbock, Todd Truesdell and wife Alexis also of Lubbock, William Golson of Marble Falls, and her granddaughter Kala Knighton of San Antonio. She had 10 great-grandchildren Connor (and wife Abby), Will (and wife Adia), Ellie, Addison, Jaden, Nolan, Katelyn, Karsyn, Forrest, and Everly. She had 2 great-great grandchildren, Case and Cal. She is also survived by her brother Mike Murphy and his wife Bonnie of Bremond, numerous cousins, nieces and nephews, and much-loved family friend and care giver Dorothy Douthit.
Her funeral service will be held at Victory Christian Center (1620 Sunset Dr, San Angelo, TX) at 10 a.m. on Friday Sept. 5, 2025, with burial to follow in Restland Cemetary (Iraan Texas) at 3 p.m. Memorials in Merle’s honor may be sent to the West Texas Rehab Center, the West Texas Boys Ranch, Shannon Legacy, and Concho Valley Turning Point. “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.” Proverbs 3:3