LIBBY ELEANORE CLEVELAND WHITMIRE -
The Angels sang Libby into heaven on the 5th of
Dec., 2016, completing 102 years on this earth,
with interment at Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery
in Flatonia, TX.
She was born to Jesse Frederick Cleveland & Dorothy
Adams Cleveland in San Angelo, TX on Sept. 25, 1914
as the third of four children. The family moved to
Ranger, TX when Libby was five years old. Her parents
have predeceased her as well as her brother, William
H. Cleveland, sisters Cordelia Cleveland Masters
(RHS-1928) and Dorothy Jesse Cleveland Huddle (RHS-
1939).
Her first husband, Patrick Joseph McMurrough, Jr.
and her eldest son, Patrick Joseph McMurrough III
also predeceased her. She leaves to mourn her passing,
Charles Stephen McMurrough (Anne), Terence McMurrough,
Mary Katherine McMurrough (David), seven grandchildren,
and fifteen great grandchildren in addition to many
nieces and nephews. Her Great Grandfather was Charles
Lander Cleveland, a traveling circuit Judge. He donated
the land for the town site of Cleveland, TX and so the
town was named after him. The DAR is completing work
on a museum in Liberty, TX in the home he built for
his family. It is called the Cleveland/Partlow house.
Libby was an artistic child who studied the violin
and began oil painting at the age of nine, continuing
to produce lovely paintings for many years.
She attended St. Rita's Catholic School and was on
the pep squad at Ranger High School in Ranger, TX,
being the class prophet her senior year, graduating
at age seventeen in 1933. Her mother, an excellent
seamstress, said "Libby was my best dressed child."
Her fashion sense & blending of colors were remarkable.
She maintained a slender figure all of her life to go
with her attractive face. Some described her as "striking."
Libby was a woman of many talents. She did exhibition
dancing for Arthur Murray Studios specializing in the
tango. She could play the piano by ear. After she had
her four children, she returned to nursing school at
Jefferson Davis Hospital to complete her R.N. Degree.
She graduated from the University of Houston in 1958
and worked for HISD as a school nurse testing children's
hearing for 26 years.
After her first husband, Patrick J. McMurrough, passed
away she remarried to Victor E. Whitmire until he died
8 years later. Libby loved attending and giving parties.
Her children always had birthday parties with their
school mates and relatives. Some involved a campfire
in the backyard with lit Chinese lanterns strung above,
or a pony to ride, or even swim parties. Once there was
a miniature golf party. Guests generally went home with
some party favor such as a bandanna or a miniature bottle
of perfume for the girls. She enjoyed traveling & was very
active in the Kiwanis Club, traveling to many different
states and Canada as a representative of her club. She
even went to Nice, France for an international Kiwanis
Club convention. She was proud to be a member of the
Daughters of the American Revolution, Lady Washington
Chapter and had her framed certificate hanging above her
bed where she convalesced at Elmcroft of Braeswood assisted
living center. Libby enjoyed traveling to Europe, Hawaii,
China, Colorado, Florida, California, New York and the
Kentucky Derby most every year. Her Mother was raised in
Kentucky and she had a special fondness for it. She still
has cousins there.