Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give ye rest."

William Henry "Coot" Murchison departed this life on May 4, 2022. He was born on August 31, 1934 as the youngest of twelve children of Mack and Nora Murchison.  Both of Williams' parents left this world when he was still an infant, and he was raised by his oldest sister, Martha Murchison Jones, who he loved as his mother.  He grew up on a farm in the small, rural community of "Flatwoods" outside Lillington Township in Harnett County, North Carolina.

William was preceded in death by his parents; his eldest son William Henry "Billy" Murchison, Jr.; five brothers, Mack, James, Tobie, Archie and Ernest Murchison; three sisters, Martha Murchison Jones, Flora Murchison Massey, and Alice Murchison Smith; four nieces, Rita Ann Black Woodard, Dorothy Story Rosetta Philips, and Barbara Jean Murchison Atkinson; and nephew Willie Edwards.

William served twenty-six (26) years in the United States Air Force.  He experienced an educational and rewarding military career and obtained the rank of Master Sergeant.  While in service, William and his wife Gertrude, together with their sons, Billy and Lowell, were stationed in many different communities, including Trenton, NJ; Colorado Springs, CO; Fort Walton Beach, FL; Vandenburg AFB, CA; Duluth, MN; St. Croix, USVI; Ceiba, Puerto Rico; and Bowling AFB, Washington D.C.  Upon his retirement from the Air Force, William worked in several different capacities, including as a school bus driver, a security guard at the North Carolina School of the Arts, and as a mail processor with the United States Postal Service.

William was raised in the Lillington Star Freewill Baptist Church.  He later became a devoted member of Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina where he served in several different capacities.

William was a 32 ^nd degree Mason, a proud member of the Retirees Association of the Armed Forces (RAAF) and a member of the Shawtown Alumni Association.  He was a "people person," and well-loved by all who knew him.

He is survived by his wife of sixty (60) years, Gertrude Nelson Murchison; son Lowell Thomas Murchison, his wife Carolyn, and children Emma, Billie, and George Waller of Apex, NC; three nieces, Deborah Smith Miller (George) and Joyce Ann Smith Freeman (William) of Raleigh, NC, and Evelyn Long of St. Paul, MN; two nephews, James Story (Helen) of Thomson, GA, and Nelson Smith Jr. (Ann) of Moncure, NC; and cousin Sandra Miller Jones (Lafayette) of Winston-Salem, NC.

William had several dear relatives and friends who were special to him: Mary Crumbs (Eddie) of Jackson Heights, NY; Deborah Burris (Keith) of Raleigh, NC; Levern Armstrong (Nancy) of Ukiah, CA; Martha Barefield of Port La Vaca, TX; Marilyn Pittman of Lillington, NC; Paul McCoy of Lillington, NC; Johnny Canady (Shirley) of Fayetteville, NC; Carl Miller, Aston King (Mei) of Winston-Salem, NC; Curtis Delph of Winston-Salem, NC; special military comrades Charlie Jones, LeRoy Barkley, Clifford Moore, Joyce Ellington, and Robert Jefferson; and two special young relatives who he loved dearly, Christopher Smith and Kelli Davis.

Funeral services will be conducted at 11:00 am Saturday May 14, 2022 at Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church, 810 North Highland Ave Winston-Salem, NC 27101. Mr. Murchison's public viewing will be held Friday May 13, 2022 from 12:00 pm-6:00pm at the funeral home with the family receiving friends from 3pm-6pm at the funeral home