The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

Virginia Murray Sowell, 85, a former longtime resident of Orange, died Saturday, September 30, 2017, in Rogers, Arkansas.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m.

Friday, October 6, 2017, at Claybar Funeral Home in Orange with the Reverend Lynn Ashcraft officiating.

Burial will follow at Orange Forest Lawn Cemetery in West Orange.

Visitation will be from 5:00 p.m.

until 7:00 p.m.

Thursday, October 5, 2017, at the funeral home.

Born in Security, Texas on February 7, 1932, Virginia was the daughter of Clifford Wilton Murray and Grace Mae (Mixon) Murray.

She had been a resident of Orange for about 82 years before moving to Rogers, Arkansas.

She was a member of North Orange Baptist Church in Orange and was a retired bakery manager at Market Basket in Orange.

Virginia was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Erney Morris Sowell; sons, Steven Wayne Sowell, Danny Morris Sowell and Michael Dale Sowell; brothers, Father Bernard Murray, Russell G. Murray and Jimmy B. Murray.

She is survived by her sisters, Betty Street and her husband, Sam, Faye Karpman; brother, Ernest Murray and his wife, Donna; daughters-in-law, Sue Sowell Stokes and her husband, Jeff, and Joann Sowell.

Also surviving are her grandchildren, Mark Sowell, his wife Sherry, and their children, Sarah and Daniel; Brian Sowell; Laura Sowell Gilson, her husband, Chad, and their daughter, Lydia; Sheryl Davis Moran, her husband, Todd, and their children, Ryan, Tyler and Cody; Trent Sowell, his wife Amie, and their children, Daegan and Cora; Wendi Sowell Stanley, her husband Chad, and their children, Shelby and Paige; Steven Sowell, his wife, Meagan, and their children, Aiden, Ava, Tripp and soon-to-be-born, Kesler Sowell.