Richard Murri

RICHARD LEWIS MURRI

August 12, 1940 ~July 31, 2021

Richard Lewis Murri was born August 12, 1940 in Logan, Utah to William Fred Murri and Anna Harriet Johnson. He grew up in Pocatello, Idaho, where he met his sweetheart, Shirley Jones, whom he married on January 25, 1963, in the Idaho Falls Temple.

He attended Idaho State University where he earned a master’s degree in physics. Early in their marriage, Richard and Shirley moved to Arvada, Colorado where he worked for government contractors at Rocky Flats. They moved to Grand Junction, Colorado with their four children when Richard took a job working on the Western Slope Uranium Mill Tailings Remediation Project. They later moved to Perry, Utah where Richard took a job at Thiokol, fulfilling his lifelong dream of being a rocket scientist. He retired in 2005.

Richard spent his life serving Jesus Christ and others in a multitude of church callings and assignments. As a young man, he served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, assigned to the California Mission (which included parts of Arizona and Nevada). Later in life, Richard and Shirley served a CES mission together in the Michigan Lansing mission. He served as bishop in the Arvada 3 rd Ward and helped build a new church building. He served as stake president of the Grand Junction Colorado West Stake for 9 years. He enjoyed doing indexing of family history names and going to the LDS encampments with the youth of the church. Richard and Shirley served as ordinance workers at the Ogden and Brigham City temples.

Richard loved playing basketball with his brothers and played in the all-church tournament when he was in high school. He was very skilled at building and fixing things, helping to build two of his homes, including doing the electrical work. He was great at mathematics and enjoyed doing calculus with his children and grandchildren. When logistics prevented face-to-face help, he would assist his grandchildren via phone calls or FaceTime. His favorite questions were “Did you read the chapter?” and “Where’s your scratch paper?”

Richard passed away at home on Saturday, July 31, 2021, surrounded by his family. He is survived by his beloved wife, Shirley, and children: Rich (Linda), Jill (Kelson Forsgren), Doug (Christina), and Annette (Doug Brewer); 10 grandchildren; and 7 great grandchildren. He is also survived by sister, Deanne (Bob Meredith) and brother, Gordon (Carol). Richard was preceded in death by his older brothers Bill (Manette) and Blair (Joan).

Funeral services will be held Saturday, August 7, 2021 at 11:00 am at the Syracuse 3 rd Ward Chapel at 2679 South 1000 West, Syracuse, Utah. Friends may visit family from 9:30-10:30 a.m. prior to the service.  Interment, Syracuse City Cemetery.

Services entrusted to Lindquist’s Syracuse Mortuary

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to LDS Charities:https://donate.churchofjesuschrist.org/ Or the Kidney Foundation of Utah: https://www.kidneyut.org/

Zoom link for funeral services: https://zoom.us/j/92166073011?pwd=VURmY3cvMWo1M1BHTUQ5YTR0a2gzUT09

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