Veteran Federal Judge Alfred P. Murrah, 71, Dies After a Long Illness.
U.S. Circuit Judge Alfred P. Murrah, 71 died Thursday at University Hospital after a long illness.
Services will be at 2 pm at St. Luke's United Methodist Church with burial in Fairlawn Cemetery directed by Hahn-Cook, Street & Draper Funeral Home. Friends may call at the funeral home until 11 am Monday.
Murray was known throughout the United States as Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Alfred P. Murrah.
But, to his many Oklahoma friends he was known simply as "Fish" Murrah, a nick name he got in high school because of his goldfish-colored hair.
Marrah had served nearly 36 years on the federal bench when, in 1950, he took senior status and accepted the position as director of the Federal Judical Center in Washington, D.C. [The Federal Judical Center is the education and research agency for the federal courts. Congress created the FJC in 1967]
Born 71 years ago in Indian Territory near Tishmingo, Murrah became a federal district judge at the age of 32, serving from the northern, eastern and western districts of Oklahoma.
In 1940, he was appointed to the U. S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit and for 11 years was chief judge.
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Murrah's mother and father died when he was a youth and he migrated to Oklahoma City aboard a freight train. He was unceremoniously booted off the train in Oklahoma City by a railroad policeman.
Tired of hoboing around the country, the 13 year old Murrah decided he wanted a job that would give him an opportunity to improve upon his fourth grade education. He found it on a farm in Tuttle.
There he milked cows and did farm chores for his room and board. To earn spending money, he got still another job in a drugstore. Then he presented himself to the Tuttle High School principal and convinced the teacher he could take his place with other 13 year olds in the class room and still hold down two jobs.
That he did and when he was graduated it was at the head of the class. With his high school diploma, he hitchhiked to Norman enrolled in the University of Oklahoma and then set out to finance his way through law school.
After looking over the Norman business district, he presented himself to one merchant and announced: "My name's Murrah and I'm going to go to work for you."
When the merchant snorted he didn't need any help, Murrah pointed out some things in the store that needed to be done and suggested some methods that would make the merchant more money. He got the job.
Once when asked for his advice to young people, Murrah said: "Get a good education. Decide what you want to do. Whatever you like to do best is exactly the thing you are fitted for. Put your finger on a map, close your eyes and pick a place. Then go there and be diligent and decent. You won't have too much competition and you will get ahead." And, he continued don't begrudge the fact that you have to work for what you get.
When he graduated with honors in 1927, Murrah hung his shingle in Seminole, then an oil boom town. He slept in his law office, prospered married an Oklahoma City school teacher and moved to Oklahoma City.
When he was 32 he was the youngest man in history to be appointed a U.S. district judge. As a judge he quickly attracted attention. In remarks on and off the bench he described prisons as schools for crime, honky-tonks and night clubs as breeding places for crime and rapped "bargain table" deals between prosecutors and criminals for recommended sentences.
In 1940 he was elevated to the 10th Circuit Court - a jurisdiction embracing Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Kansas and New Mexico.
U.S. Circuit Judge Alfred P. Murrah, 71 died Thursday at University Hospital after a long illness.
Services will be at 2 pm at St. Luke's United Methodist Church with burial in Fairlawn Cemetery directed by Hahn-Cook, Street & Draper Funeral Home. Friends may call at the funeral home until 11 am Monday.
Murray was known throughout the United States as Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Alfred P. Murrah.
But, to his many Oklahoma friends he was known simply as "Fish" Murrah, a nick name he got in high school because of his goldfish-colored hair.
Marrah had served nearly 36 years on the federal bench when, in 1950, he took senior status and accepted the position as director of the Federal Judical Center in Washington, D.C. [The Federal Judical Center is the education and research agency for the federal courts. Congress created the FJC in 1967]
Born 71 years ago in Indian Territory near Tishmingo, Murrah became a federal district judge at the age of 32, serving from the northern, eastern and western districts of Oklahoma.
In 1940, he was appointed to the U. S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit and for 11 years was chief judge.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Murrah's mother and father died when he was a youth and he migrated to Oklahoma City aboard a freight train. He was unceremoniously booted off the train in Oklahoma City by a railroad policeman.
Tired of hoboing around the country, the 13 year old Murrah decided he wanted a job that would give him an opportunity to improve upon his fourth grade education. He found it on a farm in Tuttle.
There he milked cows and did farm chores for his room and board. To earn spending money, he got still another job in a drugstore. Then he presented himself to the Tuttle High School principal and convinced the teacher he could take his place with other 13 year olds in the class room and still hold down two jobs.
That he did and when he was graduated it was at the head of the class. With his high school diploma, he hitchhiked to Norman enrolled in the University of Oklahoma and then set out to finance his way through law school.
After looking over the Norman business district, he presented himself to one merchant and announced: "My name's Murrah and I'm going to go to work for you."
When the merchant snorted he didn't need any help, Murrah pointed out some things in the store that needed to be done and suggested some methods that would make the merchant more money. He got the job.
Once when asked for his advice to young people, Murrah said: "Get a good education. Decide what you want to do. Whatever you like to do best is exactly the thing you are fitted for. Put your finger on a map, close your eyes and pick a place. Then go there and be diligent and decent. You won't have too much competition and you will get ahead." And, he continued don't begrudge the fact that you have to work for what you get.
When he graduated with honors in 1927, Murrah hung his shingle in Seminole, then an oil boom town. He slept in his law office, prospered married an Oklahoma City school teacher and moved to Oklahoma City.
When he was 32 he was the youngest man in history to be appointed a U.S. district judge. As a judge he quickly attracted attention. In remarks on and off the bench he described prisons as schools for crime, honky-tonks and night clubs as breeding places for crime and rapped "bargain table" deals between prosecutors and criminals for recommended sentences.
In 1940 he was elevated to the 10th Circuit Court - a jurisdiction embracing Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Kansas and New Mexico.
Veteran Federal Judge Alfred P. Murrah, 71, Dies After a Long Illness.
U.S. Circuit Judge Alfred P. Murrah, 71 died Thursday at University Hospital after a long illness.
Services will be at 2 pm at St. Luke's United Methodist Church with burial in Fairlawn Cemetery directed by Hahn-Cook, Street & Draper Funeral Home. Friends may call at the funeral home until 11 am Monday.
Murray was known throughout the United States as Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Alfred P. Murrah.
But, to his many Oklahoma friends he was known simply as "Fish" Murrah, a nick name he got in high school because of his goldfish-colored hair.
Marrah had served nearly 36 years on the federal bench when, in 1950, he took senior status and accepted the position as director of the Federal Judical Center in Washington, D.C. [The Federal Judical Center is the education and research agency for the federal courts. Congress created the FJC in 1967]
Born 71 years ago in Indian Territory near Tishmingo, Murrah became a federal district judge at the age of 32, serving from the northern, eastern and western districts of Oklahoma.
In 1940, he was appointed to the U. S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit and for 11 years was chief judge.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Murrah's mother and father died when he was a youth and he migrated to Oklahoma City aboard a freight train. He was unceremoniously booted off the train in Oklahoma City by a railroad policeman.
Tired of hoboing around the country, the 13 year old Murrah decided he wanted a job that would give him an opportunity to improve upon his fourth grade education. He found it on a farm in Tuttle.
There he milked cows and did farm chores for his room and board. To earn spending money, he got still another job in a drugstore. Then he presented himself to the Tuttle High School principal and convinced the teacher he could take his place with other 13 year olds in the class room and still hold down two jobs.
That he did and when he was graduated it was at the head of the class. With his high school diploma, he hitchhiked to Norman enrolled in the University of Oklahoma and then set out to finance his way through law school.
After looking over the Norman business district, he presented himself to one merchant and announced: "My name's Murrah and I'm going to go to work for you."
When the merchant snorted he didn't need any help, Murrah pointed out some things in the store that needed to be done and suggested some methods that would make the merchant more money. He got the job.
Once when asked for his advice to young people, Murrah said: "Get a good education. Decide what you want to do. Whatever you like to do best is exactly the thing you are fitted for. Put your finger on a map, close your eyes and pick a place. Then go there and be diligent and decent. You won't have too much competition and you will get ahead." And, he continued don't begrudge the fact that you have to work for what you get.
When he graduated with honors in 1927, Murrah hung his shingle in Seminole, then an oil boom town. He slept in his law office, prospered married an Oklahoma City school teacher and moved to Oklahoma City.
When he was 32 he was the youngest man in history to be appointed a U.S. district judge. As a judge he quickly attracted attention. In remarks on and off the bench he described prisons as schools for crime, honky-tonks and night clubs as breeding places for crime and rapped "bargain table" deals between prosecutors and criminals for recommended sentences.
In 1940 he was elevated to the 10th Circuit Court - a jurisdiction embracing Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Kansas and New Mexico.
U.S. Circuit Judge Alfred P. Murrah, 71 died Thursday at University Hospital after a long illness.
Services will be at 2 pm at St. Luke's United Methodist Church with burial in Fairlawn Cemetery directed by Hahn-Cook, Street & Draper Funeral Home. Friends may call at the funeral home until 11 am Monday.
Murray was known throughout the United States as Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Alfred P. Murrah.
But, to his many Oklahoma friends he was known simply as "Fish" Murrah, a nick name he got in high school because of his goldfish-colored hair.
Marrah had served nearly 36 years on the federal bench when, in 1950, he took senior status and accepted the position as director of the Federal Judical Center in Washington, D.C. [The Federal Judical Center is the education and research agency for the federal courts. Congress created the FJC in 1967]
Born 71 years ago in Indian Territory near Tishmingo, Murrah became a federal district judge at the age of 32, serving from the northern, eastern and western districts of Oklahoma.
In 1940, he was appointed to the U. S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit and for 11 years was chief judge.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Murrah's mother and father died when he was a youth and he migrated to Oklahoma City aboard a freight train. He was unceremoniously booted off the train in Oklahoma City by a railroad policeman.
Tired of hoboing around the country, the 13 year old Murrah decided he wanted a job that would give him an opportunity to improve upon his fourth grade education. He found it on a farm in Tuttle.
There he milked cows and did farm chores for his room and board. To earn spending money, he got still another job in a drugstore. Then he presented himself to the Tuttle High School principal and convinced the teacher he could take his place with other 13 year olds in the class room and still hold down two jobs.
That he did and when he was graduated it was at the head of the class. With his high school diploma, he hitchhiked to Norman enrolled in the University of Oklahoma and then set out to finance his way through law school.
After looking over the Norman business district, he presented himself to one merchant and announced: "My name's Murrah and I'm going to go to work for you."
When the merchant snorted he didn't need any help, Murrah pointed out some things in the store that needed to be done and suggested some methods that would make the merchant more money. He got the job.
Once when asked for his advice to young people, Murrah said: "Get a good education. Decide what you want to do. Whatever you like to do best is exactly the thing you are fitted for. Put your finger on a map, close your eyes and pick a place. Then go there and be diligent and decent. You won't have too much competition and you will get ahead." And, he continued don't begrudge the fact that you have to work for what you get.
When he graduated with honors in 1927, Murrah hung his shingle in Seminole, then an oil boom town. He slept in his law office, prospered married an Oklahoma City school teacher and moved to Oklahoma City.
When he was 32 he was the youngest man in history to be appointed a U.S. district judge. As a judge he quickly attracted attention. In remarks on and off the bench he described prisons as schools for crime, honky-tonks and night clubs as breeding places for crime and rapped "bargain table" deals between prosecutors and criminals for recommended sentences.
In 1940 he was elevated to the 10th Circuit Court - a jurisdiction embracing Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Kansas and New Mexico.
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