Clinton Williams Murchison

     Clinton Williams Murchison was born on 11 April 1895 in Tyler, Smith County, Texas.^1,2 He married Anne Morris, daughter of Edward Spring Morris and Burk Yarbrough, on 17 April 1920 in First Episcopal Church of Tyler.³ He married Virginia Long on 21 January 1943 in Mission, Hidalgo County, Texas.⁴ He died on 20 June 1969 in Athens, Henderson County, Texas, at age 74.⁵ Funeral services were at First United Methodist Church in Athens on 21 June 1969, and were followed with burial at City Cemetery.⁶
     
     Clint Murchison Sr. was an East Texas country boy who became one of America's richest men. He was a high-rolling wheeler-dealer who lived an extravagant lifestyle and hobnobbed with the rich, the powerful and the famous. Although best known as a Texas oil man, his empire was a huge conglomerate; and he was as colorful in life as he was brilliant in business. However, the death of his wife Anne in 1926 almost destroyed him. Month by month his depression deepened and he began to drink heavily. Finally Anne's mother confronted him and begged that he allow his three boys to live with her and her husband in Tyler. Clint wouldn't hear of it, and realizing how lucky he was to have his sons, his depression vanished. At the loss of his youngest son in 1936, Clint was once again inconsolable, but gradually he adjusted to the loss. He was devoted to his sons, though he was often away from Dallas on business, and vowed never to inflict them with a stepmother so long as they were living at home. It was a vow he kept. In his later years, he returned to live in Athens where he had grown up. With his health failing and doctors unable to diagnose the cause, a long time employee explained that "Mr. Murchison's brain done wore out his body."