City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation
Obituary
Sue Williams Murray
Raleigh, North Carolina
Age 84.
Died 07/27/2025.
Sue was born on April 17, 1941, in Mullens, West Virginia and was the only child of Roy and Mary Williams. Sue graduated from Mullens High School and Concord College, in Athens, West Virginia. Sue later earned her master’s degree from Indiana State University. Sue’s teaching career focused on business education.
In 1962, Sue married Thomas Aaron Murray, and they were married for 47 years before Tom’s passing in 2009. They were blessed with two children, Susan Annetta and Jeffrey Aaron. The family moved several times during their childhood years due to Tom’s job progressions. Sue became a master packer and could make any state they lived in, whether it was Virginia, Delaware, Missouri, or Indiana feel like home, finally retiring to Clayton, North Carolina to be near family.
Sue enjoyed camping when the children were at home, but later her attention turned to honing her golf game with Tom. She and Tom were avid Virginia Tech fans, supporting student athletes through a scholarship endowment, and attending most home games even when they lived far from Blacksburg. Later, when her health prevented her from attending, she always spent Saturdays watching the “ballgame”.
After Tom’s death, Sue moved to Raleigh. She settled in Inman Park and played Bridge, Spades and Rummikub regularly. She loved playing all games and looked forward to evenings when she did. Sue loved reading and enjoyed participating in the Inman Park Book Club. Sue made wonderful friends during her time at Inman Park. One special friend, Bernice Pegram, became like the sister she never had. Recently, when asked what her favorite thing to do was, she answered with “sitting on my patio talking with Bernie”.
Sue was an active member of Edenton Street Methodist Church, where she enjoyed Sunday School and Circle.
Sue was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and friend to all. She was a master listener and loved hearing about her children’s and grandchildren’s lives. She enjoyed trips to Chicago to visit Jeff’s family, going to the beach and Hokie games with Susan’s, and traveling with her friends. Sue enjoyed watching reality shows like Survivor, the Bachelor franchise and Dancing with the Stars so she could discuss the episodes with her grandchildren. She is survived by three generations in whom she took great pride and loved abundantly: Susan Bowers and her husband, Mark, Jeff Murray and his wife, Allison. Grandchildren: William Thomas Bowers, and wife Kasey, Mary Katherine Bowers, Annetta Erin Bowers and fiancée Zachary Benson, Samuel Thomas Murray, Charlotte Sarah Murray and Tessa Elizabeth Murray. Great Grandson: Beau Thomas Bowers.
A graveside service will be held later at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, the family would be grateful for gifts in Sue’s memory to The Helene Foundation, 13200 Strickland Road, Suite 114-308, Raleigh, NC, or a charity of one’s choice.
For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.
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City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.
Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.
Our Promise
Apples to Apples
Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.
The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.
Genuine Care
We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.
Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.
We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.
State Wide
Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.
Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.
Our Services
$1196.75
Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.
$2875.66
We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.
$1917.84
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.
$1596.75
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation with a private family viewing. A private family viewing allows up to 10 immediate family members or friends to spend time with a loved one when a public visitation is not preferred.
$2497.50
An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.
$6081.48
We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.
$3033.75
This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.
$2640.59
As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.