Susan Murray

She was the daughter of Milton and Clara Payne of Grand Rapids, MI. Her beloved siblings were: her brother and his wife, David and Barbara Payne, sister Lolly Payne (predeceased), and her sisters and their husbands; Mary and Ken Duncan, Beth and Joe Fiedorowitz, and Bonnie (predeceased) and Rob Peuler. She is survived by her devoted daughter and her husband - Rai Anne and Charles Miller, her loving son and his wife – Arik and Sara Murray, her adored grandchildren: Joshua Murray, Amanda and David Inlay, and her pride-and-joy great grandchildren, Nola and Neeva Inlay, and Madison Johnson, and all of her many nieces and nephews, whom she loved very much.

All who knew Susan found her to be a fiercely independent, strong-willed woman. She left high school in the 9th grade, eventually going back and completing her GED, circa 1979. For most of her younger adult years she was a single Mom raising two kids on virtually no income (less than an average of $12K per year in today’s equivalent), determined that they should want for nothing. She was a success. She worked many jobs, and eventually became a life insurance agent, a job she was well suited for, even though at that time it was considered a man’s job.

She LOVED to travel. She visited nearly every state in the continental United States, nearly every Caribbean island, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, and about half of Europe. In fact, she found it very soothing in times of sadness to get in her car and drive. On one such trip she ended up in Utah, where her son advised her to “go find her happy.” She often referred to that as excellent advice and frequently said in her last years that she had done just that. She loved being around water and swimming, and her last birthday was a week-long celebration at the Outer Banks of North Carolina, which she declared to be her “BEST vacation EVER!”

Her hobbies were: watching politics, working for Equal Rights Amendment passage, challenging people to think and debate various issues, coin collecting, post card collecting, stamp collecting, any kind of card or board game, and being a very good poker player. While living in Grand Rapids, she was delighted to be a member of the Rock Club, the Coin Club, the Post Card Club, and playing in various poker tournaments in the area.

While she started out a person of faith, after some troubling experiences with various religions, she settled in on living her life by the Golden Rule, and believing in reincarnation and Karma.

She never feared giving her opinion to anyone about anything. She was free with her advice, although she frequently mentioned afterwards that “it was worth what you paid for it” and that you were free not to take it (but she really thought you should).

Her prodigy eventually figured out that she was very smart – especially about finances (see paragraph two) – and sought out her opinion regularly.

She loved playing well–thought-out practical jokes – especially on April Fool’s Day (no one was safe)! She loved giving gifts to people in really unusual ways such as filling a huge box with peanuts and having her grandkids go “fishing” for their stocking stuffers!

She really liked solving household problems by coming up with innovative solutions. She had the soul of an engineer in that way.

Had her early life been different, some feel she could easily have ended up in the White House.

Susan was well and truly loved. Her family respected and admired her for overcoming so many challenges in her life and giving them such fiercely loyal love.

Her life will be celebrated on 29 June 2019 starting at 2:00 pm, at the Alpine Township Fire Dept Station 3 (in the hall in the back), at 610 9-Mile Road, Comstock Park MI, 49321 (616-647-0335). All who loved and cared for her are welcome, and you are invited to bring copies of any of your favorite photos of her and your loving stories of her to tell. There will be easels and posters for displaying photos, and there will be time for speeches/stories. There will also be her favorite snacks and beverages. There will not be any alcohol.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in her name to her favorite charity: Planned Parenthood. As an alternate, her family suggests any charity that is devoted to assisting homeless women and children.