'She gave from her heart': Wyoming philanthropist Susie McMurry mourned (2023)

This story was originally published in the Jan. 31 edition of the Star-Tribune. As a service to our print-only readers, we are republishing it.

Susie McMurry, a Casper philanthropist and volunteer known for her decades of generous giving, died Saturday. She was 76.

McMurry died at Wyoming Medical Center after a lifelong battle with diabetes, according to an obituary posted to Bustard and Jacoby Funeral Home in Casper. Her family confirmed that she had passed Saturday morning. A Casper native, McMurry’s legacy of giving can be seen in countless Wyoming organizations and buildings that were supported through her contributions. She and her husband, Mick, started the McMurry Foundation, which awarded nearly $50 million in its first 15 years of operation alone. They assisted groups such as the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Wyoming, the University of Wyoming, Casper’s YMCA and Wyoming Medical Center, among many others.

“Mickey was in charge of making the money, and certainly he had input on what philanthropic endeavors they should support,” said Cary Brus, a director of Jonah Bank who has worked closely with the family for decades. “But Susie was in charge of directing the philanthropic efforts, to a larger degree.”

Looking back on the couple’s legacy, he said, “it’s hard to put into words how many communities they’ve touched.”

‘Blessing others’

McMurry was raised in Elk Mountain and Hanna before returning to the Oil City to attend Casper College. She graduated with an education degree from the University of Wyoming and taught for a time in Casper.

In 1973, she married Mick, who later developed Jonah Field in southwest Wyoming. That success made them two of the wealthiest people in the state. They used that wealth to help numerous organizations and countless Wyomingites.

“Susie courageously always thought of others first,” her obituary states. “She gave from her heart and was a living legacy of joy, kindness, love, and faith. Her life was about blessing others.”

Around the time of her wedding to Mick, McMurry befriended Barbara Cubin, who went on to serve as Wyoming’s sole member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2009. That friendship — which also included former state superintendent Judy Catchpole — predated the success of Jonah Field, “but the money didn’t change our relationship one single bit,” Cubin said. “We were still common people at heart.”

Catchpole added, “Susie is the best friend anyone could have.”

Even after decades of friendship, McMurry’s devotion to children was a point of amazement for Catchpole. McMurry was instrumental in the creation of the Child Development Center of Natrona County.

“She was just a leader in getting those things to happen for children in Casper,” Catchpole said. “It was so fun to watch her.”

Making a difference

Without McMurry and the family’s philanthropic efforts, Casper would be a different place, she said.

The McMurrys touched “nearly every corner of the university with their philanthropy,” said UW spokesperson Chad Baldwin. The High Altitude Performance Center, a gym located at the university’s Jonah Field at War Memorial Stadium, for example, is endowed in their names. And they’ve made contributions to UW’s marching band, college of business, college of education, college of health sciences and the library.

In addition to her philanthropy, McMurry volunteered much of her time to the causes she believed in, Cubin said. “She donated not only her money, but her life.”

Jamie Purcell, executive director of the Wyoming Food for Thought Project, recalled meeting McMurry while working for the Boys & Girls Club. The philanthropist supported Wyoming Food for Thought Project when it was a fledgling organization aiming to tackle food insecurity in the Casper area.

“She would make sure to say hello to all of us,” Purcell said. “She knew us as people and friendly faces, and it meant so much to me coming up through the ranks of [community] development and nonprofits to have someone as influential as Susie McMurry know my name and say hello to me.”

McMurry saw the value in Wyoming Food for Thought and community groups when others did not, and she had faith in those working to better Casper, Purcell said — and, unlike some philanthropic organizations that ask for detailed accounting down to the penny, truly invested in what they supported, she said.

“They got to know you. You developed a relationship and then they would give you a gift for your mission. It was very trust-based,” she said.

“Susie very much believed in investing in the community in so many different ways. It’s just highly impactful to have someone so influential, but also so kind, trust that our mission was going to be doing what we said it was,” Purcell said. “To have their backing meant just so much to us.”

McMurry continued her philanthropic work after Mick’s death in 2015.

“After Mickey died, Susie stepped up in a way that surprised all of us,” Brus, the former McMurry employee, said.

“She was every bit his equal in many respects,” he added, “and sometimes his superior.”

Kindness and faith

But those close to McMurry spoke about more than her kindness and generosity. They also recalled her devotion to her Catholic faith, and her sense of humor.

“She had a rapier wit,” Brus said. “And I think that, coupled with her wonderful [judgement] of people around her for good traits and bad — it was a blast just to be in the same room with her and hear her sense of humor on full display.”

Cubin, her lifelong friend, said the pair found ways to laugh through it all. They amassed plenty of inside jokes over the decades, she said. “The sort that you wouldn’t put in the newspaper.”

McMurry had a great giggle, Catchpole added.

“We loved to have fun and giggle and do things together with our families,” she said.

McMurry is survived by her daughters, Trudi (Tyler) Holthouse and Jillian McMurry, sister San Koeneke, and grandchildren Lou McMurry, Tayla Davis, Tillie Holthouse, Ellie Holthouse, Evie, Lily, Max, and Drew Kaschmitter. She was preceded in death by Mick McMurry, her parents Robert and Tillie and her sisters Trudy Wilson and Pat Quigly.

Her family has asked memorial contributions be made to the Child Development Center of Natrona County or the McMurry Foundation.

A Rosary is planned for 6 p.m. Sunday at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Casper. A Funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, also at St. Patrick’s.