Obituary of Lena Ella Murvin

I thought she’d cling to her dignity, but she seemed to forgive her body, all its chaos and collapse, or maybe it was a final ripening of trust or love, abandon. ~ From “Surrender,” by Ellen Bass Lee Murvin died at home on Sunday, September 7th, 2014, surrounded by her family, her orchids, and her African violets. She was 96 years old, “up in years,” as she would say, and those who loved Lee know she lived her almost-century with joy, vigor, and faith. Lee was born Lena Ella Galauner on the Stone Farm outside Evansville, Wisconsin on August 19th, 1918. She was the sixth of ten children born to parents John and Eva (Groh) Galauner, Hungarian immigrants. Lee spoke of her childhood fondly, recalling how the farm sustained the family through the Great Depression and how she was able to find work as a seamstress to help make ends meet. Lee was the first of the women in her family to graduate from high school; after graduation, she traveled to Iowa, then to San Francisco, and finally to Southern California, where she would spend the rest of her life. She loved California for its warm weather and its abundant flowers; she would never miss the Wisconsin winters, she said. Lee was known for her lush gardens, where she would identify each rose by carefully labeling its name on a small sign in her beautiful handwriting: Blue Girl, Paradise. Lee was mother to two sons, Neil Murvin and Mike Murvin, and raised her family in Long Beach, California. As the boys grew older, Lee joined the Jehovah’s Witnesses and began a life-long devotion to her religious faith. Lee was artistic, or in her own words, “crafty,” from a young age. After strict schooling against writing with her left hand, Lee became ambidextrous. While she wrote with her right hand, Lee oil-painted roses and seascapes with her left. She often sewed clothing for herself and also friends and family; she made her granddaughter’s prom dress and for years served as the unofficial tailor for loved-ones in the neighborhood and in the church. Lee worked with her hands, she liked to say, getting them dirty in her garden, growing flowers in her many pots, tomatoes in cages she’d unravel like wrapping paper. She made pie crusts, salsa, and strawberry jam. Lee crocheted baby blankets for the many children in her life, including her granddaughters Teresa, Jennifer, Natalie, and Lauren, and then her great-grandchildren Matthew, Ethan, Lena, T.J., and Taeya. Lee lived the last fourteen years of her life in the garden house of her youngest son Neil and his wife Kathleen in Simi Valley, California, only a mile from her eldest son Mike and his wife Linda. Most days, she ate lunch with her two sons, windows open to the avocado tree and the smell of eucalyptus. Lee read her Bible daily, highlighting scriptures and sharing her beliefs with friends in the church and the community. Her life was long and not free of heartache, but Lee remained until her death a vibrant personality, stubborn and funny and loving and generous. The last of the ten Galauner brothers and sisters, Lee is survived by her loving and grateful children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and her many, many friends.