Celebration of Her Life
By
Gerry Niskern
I lost my sister Wednesday morning. She was 94.
When she graduated from Phoenix Union High School she wanted to follow her passion and go to Cosmetology School. When dad said he would pay for her to go to ASU and become a teacher but “certainly not Beauty school”, she asserted her stubborn, independent spirit. She went to work and saved for the Cosmetology School tuition.
As a younger sister I witnessed that spirit lots of times. I remember my mother telling her, “Take care of your sister, or take your sister with you”. She hated that! I remember when she was called into the first grade room to sit with me at lunch time because I was so homesick I couldn’t eat. “Please, take a bite. The team is waiting for me. I’m their pitcher.” she pleaded. I would take a bite, a crying spasm would hit, and food (that she had to clean up) flew everywhere! That went on for a couple of weeks and needless to say, she was not happy with her little sister.
Another occasion that’s a vivid memory is when my parents said she had to take me along on her first date. She was furious. It was a rainy night and the young man arrived with a large umbrella. They walked under it and I trudged behind. She turned from time to time and hissed “Stay back there”. Funny thing was I was around nine or ten and , I understood. I didn’t think I should go on her first date either!
When she started her Cosmetology career, her first position was with Goldwater’s prestigious Antione Salon, but was soon invited back to become an instructor at the School. She continued to work as an instructor while running her own Salon in later years. She was always active in the Arizona Cosmetology Society and advocated for more rigid and professional requirements to be licensed as a stylist in Arizona. She became a member of the state Cosmetology board and was hired to visit and certify new schools ready to open.
She joined the National Cosmetology Association and as a talented stylist she traveled giving demonstrations at their conferences. She was invited to be part of a goodwill delegation sponsored by the U.S. government to travel to the Soviet Union and several European countries to promote U. S. techniques. She talked about being in a Moscow hotel years ago and being awakened by the building shaking. Huge military tanks were rolling down the street and the coup that broke up the Soviet Union was beginning.
As proud as my sister was of her career and accomplishments, she was even more proud of her family and her role as a mother and grandmother. She loved her three children, Mike, Pat and Eva, her grandchildren, Candace, Kurtis, Kendra, Kayla, Amber, Aurora, Kyle and Brandon and her great-grandchildren, Ethan, Eric, Evan, Tyler, Emily, Stella, Shea, Baztian, Justin, and Christian. She managed to take some of the first grandchildren along, for one on one time, on her demonstration trips.
Ileane Eileen Craig Murtey loved her family immeasurably