Obituary of Debora Elaine Murray

Debora Elaine Murray (Watson), daughter of the late Ellis Watson and Mary L. Rout, who left this world on July 29, 2023, was born on August 7, 1955 in Asheville, North Carolina. In 1964, Debora’s mother moved her two sisters and her to Newark, NJ. There, Debora completed her secondary education at Barringer High School and started classes at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. At a college party, she met and befriended Melvin Murray. Their friendship blossomed into love and they were married on May 30, 1981. During her lifetime, she was able to live in many different cities across the east coast and south including; Elizabeth, NJ, Amsterdam, NY, Bristol, CT, Farmington, CT, Lancaster, PA, Manheim Township, PA, Orangeburg, SC, Columbus, MS, Mobile, AL, Bowie, MD. Debora was an avid supporter of the arts. In her capacity of chairperson at the Bethel A.M.E. church in Lancaster, PA, she brought the Dance Theater of Harlem to the Fulton Theatre. She also produced the shows West Side Story, Bubbling Brown Sugar and A… My Name is Alice, to name a few. Debora devoted herself to a long career in human resources and was especially passionate about her work with the Girl Scouts of the USA. She was an inspiration to both young girls and women in PA and SC. She was friendly and outgoing, enjoyed meeting and getting to know new people and had the gift of making strangers feel at ease. Debora loved the Lord. She and Melvin found their church home at Smith Memorial A.M.E. Church in Mobile, AL. Throughout her life, she was a faithful steward of God and spent her life ministering to friends, family and strangers. She always told us that we were “no longer Christian soldiers, we are Christian Warriors.” Debora loved her family. She was always on the phone with her son, daughters or one of her cousins, and often said that her first cousins were more like siblings. In addition, she frequently worried about her nephews and nieces and thought of them as her own children. If you were a close friend of Debora’s, you were considered family. When her husband was diagnosed with cancer, she retired from work to care for him. Until she drew her last breath, she was devoted to taking care of her mother, Mary. Debora has joined her husband Melvin and her sisters Cheryl Ann and Ellen Denise in heaven. Those left to cherish her memory include her mother, Mary Watson of Bowie, MD; son Wess Murray of New York, NY; daughters Joan Webber of Asheville, NC and Jennifer Murray of Bowie, MD and a host of beloved cousins, nieces, nephews, friends and neighbors.