Esther Murray

A native of Los Angeles, California, Esther was born on March 3, 1938, and came of age idolizing the likes of Johnny Mathis and Marilyn Monroe. Her love of old Hollywood glamour and beauty foreshadowed her entry into the hairstyling profession, an endeavor that resulted in her own successful Westwood hair salon that commanded the devotion of legions of happy clients. Esther deftly found inroads to her clients’ lives and many of these clients became dear friends. With Esther, it mattered little if one was a housekeeper or a well-heeled professional; everyone was treated with warmth, kindness, and the occasional make-up tip.

It was this singular trait that would form the backbone of her vast community of friends and confidantes. In 1968, Esther married Frank Murray and relocated to Miami, Florida, bringing with her the same work ethic and tenacity that she embodied during the California years. As the wife of a young law student, Esther parlayed her entrepreneurial talents and other skills into another successful hair salon in South Miami, thereby providing her family with a stable income during the first few years of their marriage. As time passed and her family grew, Esther embraced the role of full-time homemaker, packing away her scissors and hair color bottles for the last time to the chagrin of her loyal clients.

In the 1980s, while juggling motherhood and home-making, Esther turned to an unfulfilled educational aspiration, and at the age of 55, graduated from Florida International University with honors.

As a mother and grandmother, Esther's capacity to love was legendary. Her son Johnny’s step-children, Ashley and Austin Decker were loved by Esther as her own grandchildren. Guests at Esther’s home for dinner knew not to select their own seats, because she would inevitably rearrange everyone to place herself closest to her children and grandchildren. The topic of conversation was of little consequence to her. What made her happiest was watching her loved ones engage in a lively crosscurrent of banter with her in the middle. For Esther, no accomplishment was too small, no win too insignificant to celebrate. The mere existence of her children and grandchildren was a source of joy and pride for her, a fact that was borne out year after year, when she would call her kids at daybreak on their birthdays, because she wanted to be the first to sing them Happy Birthday in its entirety.

In her later years, Esther used the extra time to further pursue one of her favorite activities, dancing, by taking regular tango, waltz, and salsa classes at Derek's Dance Masters in North Miami. Those Saturday night dances were where she met her love, Harold Pettit, and where they went on to spend most Saturday nights.

When Esther danced, she was incandescent, a swirl of sequins, Lycra, and tiny size 5 feet. She had seemingly inexhaustible energy; while someone half her age would be watching Netflix on their couch, her night was just getting started.

She also had a passion for her community. Everyone knew her at Tower III in Oceania - from the valet to the front desk staff to her neighbors. She took a true interest in everyone's lives, and could always be counted on for a sympathetic ear, or - if the occasion warranted it - a Gray Goose cocktail. To call them neighbors was an understatement. What Esther built was a tightly-woven web of friendships that functioned as her second family, the kind where people dropped in unannounced, vacationed together on cruises and shared life's joys and pains.

Above all, Esther was a woman of faith; faith in the innate goodness of people, in the promise of a better tomorrow, and that even in the darkest of hours, things would eventually land right side up. She was raised Catholic and converted to Judaism in 1980, yet the essence of her spirituality remained unchanged. She believed in the power of prayer and the natural order of things. When she said that she'd pray for you, she meant it to the depths of her soul, and you felt reassured that she was in your corner. Such was her connection with God, with the divine.

Surviving Esther are her children, Johnny Une (Robin), Nicole Murray Kraftsow (Ricky Lehman), and Michael Murray (Beverly), her grandchildren, Melony Goldsmith, Corey Kraftsow, Sloane Kraftsow, great-granddaughter, Mia Goldsmith, and her sister, Madeline Ann Mendoza. Her family hopes that she is in her own version of heaven: happy, relaxed, and dancing to her favorite songs among everyone she has ever known and loved.

A chapel service and interment for Esther will be held Sunday, December 26, 2021 at 11:00 AM at Riverside Gordon Memorial Chapels at Mount Nebo (Kendall), 5900 SW 77 Avenue, Miami, Florida 33143.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.riversidegordonaventura.com for the Murray family.