William Harwell Murrey

Dr. William Harwell Murrey, age 90, passed away on September 18, 2025. Born November 28, 1934, he was preceded in death by parents Joseph Henning Murrey and Margaret Harwell Murrey, brother Joseph Henning Murrey, Jr., and eldest son William Harwell (Bill) Murrey, Jr.

He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Jane Cary Murrey, sons Dr. Marshall Cary Murrey (Maloo) of Boone, NC; Dr. Daniel Beasley Murrey (Katherine Oates) of Asheville, NC; daughters Cary Murrey Brimm (Jack) of Brentwood, TN; Margaret Murrey DiNella of Birmingham, AL; daughter-in-law, Callie Morris Murrey of Pulaski, TN; and ten grandchildren: Louisa Noel Murrey, Eli Henning Murrey (Hannah), Samuel Cotten Murrey, Katherine Lucille Murrey, Jack Harwell Brimm, Joseph Henry DiNella, Robert Cary DiNella, William Cary Brimm, Haynes Heron Murrey, and Alder Oriole Murrey.

Raised in Lewisburg, Tennessee, Dr. Murrey graduated from Marshall County High School and later The University of the South at Sewanee (1957). Upon graduation, he married his devoted wife Jane, and together they moved to Memphis, where he attended the University of Tennessee Medical School (1961).

In 1961 Dr. Murrey moved his young family back to southern middle TN, where he joined the medical practice of Physicians & Surgeons of Pulaski and worked as an attending physician at Giles County Hospital. For the next 40 years he served Giles Countians as a family physician in an era that not only included office visits, house calls, and hospital rounds, but also delivering babies, performing surgery, staffing the emergency room and even weekends spent living in the hospital. After retiring from private practice, Dr. Murrey continued on as the medical director at NHC Nursing Home of Pulaski for many years. At retirement countless patients expressed appreciation for his keen diagnoses, vigilant care, and calming bedside manner with a proper mix of seriousness and humor. Always a stylish dresser, he was never seen without a suit and tie, and as he aged he collected and wore tiny round antique glasses in the style of Ben Franklin, peering over them to share his clinical or fatherly wisdom.

In addition, Dr. Murrey served his country reaching the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of the Tennessee National Guard and his community for decades as a director of the First National Bank of Pulaski. Inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit of his own father, Dr. Murrey founded several additional businesses and shared ownership of a Sundrop bottling franchise with his childhood neighbor and several Pulaski friends.

In 1973, Dr. and Mrs. Murrey bought a farm at Hicks Cut where they kept their teenage sons busy with farming. Soon after they built their family home, an 18th-century style inspired by the Wythe house of Williamsburg, and subsequently developed elaborate gardens surrounding it. Over the years Harwell and Jane developed a fondness for art and period antiques, and Harwell always loved the opportunity to search for a “storied” piece.

In spite of his busy medical practice, he was always home in time for dinner at the table with Jane and all of the children. He was fond of saying, “Isn’t this grand!” and his life certainly was. A constant figure in the lives of his wife and children he was a powerful role model, provider, friend, and caregiver to his family and his community.


Visitation will be Saturday, September 27, 2025 from 10:00 am until 1:00 pm at the First United Methodist Church in Pulaski, Tennessee.
The funeral service will follow at 1:00pm at the First United Methodist Church.
The burial will follow in Maplewood Cemetery.

Bennett-May & Pierce Funeral Home and Crematory is in charge of arrangements for Dr. William Harwell Murrey.