Biography: Mary Ellen Pendleton Murray was born November 27, 1924, daughter to the late Bill and Gladys Pendleton of North Little Rock, AR. Mary Ellen grew up in North Little Rock attending local schools, graduating from Old Main High School and then attending John Brown University with her brother Edmund. JBU offered the Pendletons a two for one deal so that Mary Ellen could attend college! After marrying her high school sweetheart, Alvin Curtis Murray Jr., Mary Ellen transferred to Hendrix College where Alvin was enrolled and attended with him until Alvin?s graduation. As Alvin began his ministry with the United Methodist Church, Alvin and Mary Ellen began building a family, first in Texas and then in Arkansas. As Mary Ellen tells it, they lived in so many wonderful small towns around Arkansas and were well loved by all their congregations. Mary Ellen had a beautiful singing voice (a Pendleton family trait) and always participated in the church choir as well as the women?s ministries of their many churches. The Pendleton clan were avid supporters of vaudeville and always had a song and dance for every occasion, which Mary Ellen continued until her last days. Even in the emergency room on her last hospital visit she was tap dancing and singing while sitting in a wheel chair ? ever the entertainer to the end. Mary Ellen is preceded in death by her husband Dr. Alvin C. Murray Jr, her brother Edmund Pendleton, her sister Jean Pendleton Rice and William (Bill) Rice. Survivors include her five children, Lt. Col. Alvin C. Murray III (Frances) of Hot Springs Village, AR, Stephen M. Murray (Butch) of Hughes, AR, Nanci E. Kellams (Kevin) of Fayetteville, AR, Samuel W. Murray (Patty) of Chicago, IL, and Rev. Raymond Alvin Kahng of Boston, MA. Grandchildren include Christy Bray (Scott) of Little Rock, Leslie Rice (Ryan) of Phoenix, Dee Brister (Paul) of Collierville, Rupert Murray (Maren) of Chicago, and Grace Kellams of Fayetteville. Great grandchildren include Jennifer and Elizabeth Bray, Sam, Riley and Maya Rice, and Hugh Brister. She is also survived by her sister in law Mary Lou Pendelton of Enid, OK and her niece Carol Rice Reel of Colorado Springs, CO.The family wishes to thank her many friends and great staff at Brookdale Pleasant Hills Senior Living for the last twenty years of loving Mary Ellen as well as her friends at Asbury United Methodist for your loved and support. A graveside service will be held for family only at Edgewood Cemetery in North Little Rock followed by a celebration of life at 2pm, Tuesday, April 30, 2019 at Asbury United Methodist Church in Little Rock with a reception immediately following in the great hall. Reverend Mary Hilliard officiating, Ruebel Funeral Home in charge of arrangements. Memorials may be made to: Asbury United Methodist Church 1700 Napa Valley Dr. Little Rock, AR 72212 or Hendrix College 1600 Washington Ave Conway, AR 72032, 501.450.1491.