Billy Mcmurray

Billy Vaughn McMurray, an award-winning Texas sportswriter and 23-year resident of Hot Springs Village, died Aug. 22, 2019, at his home after a stroke several weeks earlier. He was 87 years old.McMurray was born June 24, 1932, in Belton, Texas, where he attended high school and began a life-long love affair with golf. His newspaper career began delivering copies of the Temple Telegram. Then he joined the Texas rodeo circuit as a bull rider. He later attended Southwest Texas College (now Texas State University) in San Marcos. One summer was spent on the wheat harvest in Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas. Another was spent selling bibles in Tennessee and West Virginia. McMurray’s serious newspaper career began at papers in Killeen and Freeport, Texas, before joining the sports staff at the Houston Chronicle in 1960 where he worked for 36 years before retiring and moving to the Village. Over the years, McMurray covered more than 1,000 football, basketball and baseball games, plus track meets, tennis matches, golf tournaments and auto racing. He became the dean of sportswriters covering high-school football in a state where it is a near religion. In 1984, he wrote a 526-page book, “Texas High School Football: An Historical Look at Football Across Texas.” He was inducted into the Texas High School Hall of Fame in 1980. McMurray was twice voted Sportswriter of the Year by the Texas High School Coaches Association and was given a Distinguished Service Award by the National High School Coaches Association. He was elected president of the Texas Sportswriters Association in 1989-90. Of his career, McMurray said “the memories are many, like watching Ben Hogan playing golf in the Houston Open, A.J. Foyt winning the Indy 500 and Tom Landry walking the Dallas Cowboys sidelines. “But induction into the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame at Waco with Landry, Craig James, Jack Mildren, Jack Pardee and Willie Zapalac was especially gratifying.” After moving to the Village, McMurray played golf three or four times a week with a group known as the Sweet Sixteen and maintained a single-digit handicap. A highlight of each summer was when McMurray and his wife, Sarah, hosted some 30 golfers and their wives at a Texas-style barbecue at their home near the fourth green at the Ponce de Leon Golf Course. “Moving to the Village was one of the best moves I ever made,” McMurray said shortly before he died. “I leave knowing I paid all my bills through the years, never let my family go hungry, saw my daughters graduate from the University of Texas and went to church most every Sunday. “It has been indeed a good life. See you on the next tee box.” McMurray is survived by his wife of 21 years, Sarah Kemp McMurray, and two daughters, Mona Gail McMurray Bounds of Georgetown, Texas, and Terri Lynn McMurray Twomey of San Marcos, Texas; grandchildren Tanner Jacob Twomey and his wife, Kendall, of Austin, Texas, and Tori Catherine Twomey of Dallas; great granddaughter Summer Twomey of Austin, Texas, and stepchildren Brenda (Reggie) Garriga of Mississippi, and Allen Clouse of Oklahoma.
He was preceded in death by wives Marlene Jacobs McMurray Ruth McMurray. He was a member of Balboa Baptist Church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the church. A celebration of life will be 10AM, Saturday, August 31, 2019 at Balboa Baptist, 415 Ponce de Leon Drive. Arrangements entrusted to CedarVale Funeral Home in the Hot Springs Village.