Emilee Marguerite Murray
Emilee Marguerite Murray was born on Oct. 28, 1942, in Carbondale, Jackson County, Illinois, the daughter of Edith Gram Cain and James Alexander Murray.
Edith Cain was born in Raleigh, Saline County, Illinois, and James Murray in Elgin, Morayshire, Scotland.
Emilee was named after her mother’s sister, Marguerite Cain Davis.
Emilee was seven when her father died in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1949. Emilee lived with Marguerite and Henry Davis in Cahokia, Illinois, while her mother remained in Florida to settle accounts after James Murray died and then they both moved to Anna, Illinois.
Emilee attended Anna elementary schools while her mother was director of nurses at Union County Hospital.
They then moved to Mexico, Missouri, where her mother was director of nurses until 1956 and Emilee attended middle schools there.
They moved to Carbondale, Illinois, when her mother married a widower, Chalmer Andrew Gross, who became Emilee’s stepfather. Emilee graduated from Carbondale Community High School in 1960.
Emilee married James Martin Fish on November 24, 1962, in Sullivan, Moultrie County, Illinois. They had met at Southern Illinois University. They had one child, Deborah Suzanne Fish, who was born in 1965 in Tuscola, Illinois.
When they were divorced Emilee and Suzanne moved to Washington, D.C., and stayed with her mother and stepfather where he was a professor at American University.
Emilee attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1970 in the field of Radiology/CT Technology. She has been on staff at hospitals in Miami, Florida, Boston, Massachusetts, and St. Louis, Missouri. She was a clinical instructor and supervisor at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. She has worked in Ultrasound, Nuclear Medicine, Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging and PET scanning. She was also a St. Louis, Missouri, assistant medical examiner.
Emilee was a member of the Presbyterian church and in 2013 joined the Episcopal church in St. Louis.
Emilee passed away on January 15, 2025, in St. Louis, Missouri. She was cremated and her ashes given to her daughter.
She leaves her daughter, Deborah Suzanne Fish Bentley, son-in-law Robert Bentley and three grandchildren: Evelyn, Abigail, and James Bentley of Lake Forest, Illinois. She also leaves first cousins who were also friends: Phil Boyd of Dickinson, Texas, Linda Coffman Lawler of Rancho Palos Verdes Estates, California, Karen Cain of Rockville, Maryland, Jeanne Cain Luke of Mt. Airy, Maryland, Nancy Davis Melton of Sun Lakes, Arizona, Cynthia Boyd Moritz of Walcott, Iowa, and Therese Cain Ferguson of Wentzville, Missouri. Two cousins, Betty Boyd Rendleman and Judith “Judy” Boyd Holtz, had passed away. These ten cousins have always remained close even though living from coast to coast. She also leaves her first cousin, Robert “Bob” Murray of Wheatley, Ontario, Canada. The Murray family had immigrated from Scotland to Canada and Emilee’s father came to the United States and lived in Massachusetts and Florida. The family is grateful to Lori Gallo of St. Louis, Emilee’s friend, who helped with the last few years of Emilee’s life while she was ill.
Emilee was a very intelligent person who loved to travel, visit art galleries, and symphony concerts. She had many dogs in her life which gave her pleasure. Both the Cain and Murray families have always had a connection with dogs and cats. As one cousin said the week of Emilee’s passing: “we were ten and now we are seven.”