Ida Ruth Moreland Murphy

Ida Ruth Moreland Murphy, age 92, died March 2, 2016 at her home. Funeral services will be held at Porterfield Memorial United Methodist Church at 2:00 PM Saturday. Reverend Leigh Ann Raynor will officiate. Interment will follow at 4:30 PM at Westview Cemetery in Moultrie. Reverend Mark Addington will officiate.

Ida was born on May 10, 1923 in Leesburg. She graduated Lee County High School in 1940 and Georgia State College for Women, Milledgeville, in 1942. Following graduation, she returned to Leesburg and was employed at Turner Field in Albany. She married Aaron Wandell Murphy on June 16, 1943. Following Wandel's service in the Army Air Corps in War World II, they settled in Moultrie. In 1950 they moved to Leesburg. Ida was employed as a teller at First State Bank and Trust in Albany. She was the piano player for First Baptist Church of Leesburg for many years. Ida, Wandell and their family returned to Moultrie in 1965. While in Moultrie, Ida was an avid golfer at Sunset Country Club. She was especially proud to have recorded three holes in one. She was an active member of Trinity Baptist Church. Nine years after Wandell's death in 1989, Ida moved to Albany to be nearer her family. She was a member of Porterfield Memorial United Methodist Church.

Ida was an American Field Trial Pointing Dog enthusiast for over 60 years. Field Trials were held regularly on their family land in Lee County. Her brother, George Moreland, owned and managed Coney Lake Plantation and was a noted pointing dog trainer and handler. George was later inducted into the Field Trial Hall of Fame. Grandson Mark McLean is an accomplished pointing dog trainer/handler with multiple champions. Great Grandson Cody McLean carries on the legacy as dog trainer and overall manager for Ecila Plantation.

Ida loved entertaining and meeting new people. She was a wonderful cook and took great delight in cooking for family and friends. Her recipe, "Ida's Shrimp", included in several cookbooks, has been enjoyed by many. Ida had a unique ability to meet new people and to communicate with all, regardless of their place in life. Put Ida in a room of new faces and by the end of the evening she would know them all and each would know they had a new friend.

Ida was preceded in death by her husband, Aaron Wandell Murphy, her parents, George Dennis Moreland, Senior and Nora Davis Moreland, sisters, Nora Moreland Allen and Jessie Moreland Lee, and brother George Dennis Moreland, Junior.

Survivors include three daughters, Jan Murphy McLean (Bill), Moultrie, GA, Joan Murphy Shaddock, Albany, GA, Paula Murphy Melton (Bruce), Leesburg, GA, seven grandchildren, Teresa Ervin (Jim), Michael McLean (Tina), Mark McLean (Dawn), Josh Shaddock (Courtney), Jacob Shaddock, Anna Lauten (Wright), Carrie Davis (Matthew), nine great-grandchildren, two great-great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Porterfield Memorial United Methodist Church, 2200 Dawson Road, Albany, GA, 31707 or Albany Community Hospice, 320 Foundation Lane, Albany, GA 31707.