Weatherford, OK – Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) has announced the latest generous gift to the Murdock Family Scholarship Fund. This latest in a long series of thoughtful philanthropic investments was made possible by the estate of the late John Milton Murdock, a 1967 SWOSU graduate.
The Murdock Family Scholarship Fund at Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) was established in 2006 to provide ongoing support to students at SWOSU who are graduates of Hammon High School in Hammon, Oklahoma.
The fund honors the life and work of the late Lloyd and Nora Murdock and their family.
Lloyd Murdock was born on 6-July-1907 at Dardanelle, Arkansas, to Grover Cleveland Murdock and Agnes Lee “Aggie” (Harkey) Murdock. His parents relocated to Hollis, Oklahoma when he was 11 years old. In 1922, his family moved to Hammon, Oklahoma. He received a teaching certificate from SWOSU. He taught at schools in the Kiowa Community of Roger Mills County, Oklahoma; Eutopia and Hondo, Texas. Lloyd completed graduate work at Oklahoma State University and Texas A&M University-Kingsville. In 1943, Lloyd was named the Vocational Agriculture Instructor at Hammon Public Schools in Hammon where he was an educator until his retirement in 1975.
Lloyd married Nora Lee Linville at Enid, Oklahoma on 7-December-1937.
The Murdocks were longtime members of the First Baptist Church in Hammon where Lloyd served as a Deacon Sunday School Director and Teacher. Lloyd was a Mason and served on the USDA Committee for Roger Mills County; the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma State University Alumni Association; the Board of Directors of the Roger Mills County Retired Educations Association; the Board of Directors of Bank of Western Oklahoma; and was a longtime member of the Lions Club of Hammon.
Nora Lee Linville was born on 31-May-1910 in the Kiowa Community in Roger Mills County, Oklahoma to John Milton Linville and Mattie Jane (Boulware) Linville. Nora was one of eleven children. She grew up in the Kiowa Community and graduated from Hammon High School; she subsequently graduated from cosmetology school in Oklahoma City.
Following her marriage to Lloyd in 1937, Nora worked as a cosmetologist in Cheyenne, Buffalo and Hammon, Oklahoma where she raised her three children and operated her business until the age of 86.
Nora was a longtime member of the First Baptist Church of Hammon.
Lloyd and Nora were blessed to be the parents of Linville Lee Murdock (SWOSU Classes of 1964 & 1966), John Milton Murdock (SWOSU Class of 1967), and Lloyd Murdock, Jr.
Linville Lee “Lin” Murdock was known as “Sissy” within the Murdock Family. She was born 13-August-1942 in Hondo, Texas, and moved the family to Hammon in 1943—she graduated from Hammon High School in 1960 where she was an outstanding basketball player and pianist. After earning her undergraduate and graduate degrees at SWOSU Lin taught for two years in the Clovis, New Mexico public schools system and then at Panhandle State University in Goodwell, Oklahoma for one year before she began a career of over thirty years as a Kinesiology instructor at SWOSU. Lin was a respected and beloved member of the SWOSU faculty. She taught many courses and touched many lives; she coached Volleyball and Tennis, sponsored the Physical Education Majors/Minors Club, served with the Brownie Playdays, and volunteered with the Faculty Senate. She was President of the Lamba Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma.
John Milton Murdock was known as “Johnny” within the family. He was born 5-November-1939 in Elk City, Oklahoma and moved with the family from Utopia, Texas to Hammon, Oklahoma in 1943. He graduated from Hammon High School in 1957 where he graduated high in his class. He taught 6 years in the Hereford Public Schools in Hereford, Texas and then obtained an Accounting degree from West Texas A&M University in 1972. He worked as an accountant with the Hunt Oil Company in Dallas until he retired in 2015. During his time at Hunt Oil, he helped the company begin conducting accounting operations by utilizing computers.
The Murdock Family legacy at SWOSU is memorialized in two substantial endowments: the Murdock Family Scholarship Fund provides ongoing scholarships support to SWOSU students who graduate from Hammon High School and the Linville Lee “Lin” Murdock Memorial Scholarship Fund provides ongoing scholarships support to SWOSU students studying Kinesiology. These funds are stewarded by the SWOSU Foundation, Inc. An independent 501 C 3 entity. The Foundation was established in 1977 to promote philanthropy, award scholarships, and support the activities and programs of SWOSU.
For more information, please contact the Foundation at 580-774-3267 or visit www.SWOSUFoundation.com.
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