Obituaries

Harold Wayne Murchison

Photo of Harold Wayne Murchison
Harold Wayne Murchison was born January 17, 1945, to Truman Earl Murchison and Florence Nellie D. Cox Murchison at St. Vincent Infirmary in Little Rock, Ark. He died January 30, 2023. He is survived by his wife Sylvia; daughter, Heather; granddaughter, Tatum; brother, Ken Murchison; sister, Janell Riggs, nieces and nephews, great-nieces, and close friends who called him, visited him, and helped care for him. He loved and was loved by all who knew him, his family, his friends, his employees, his customers, his acquaintances, and his bandmates. He was preceded in death by his dad, mom, and son, Wesley. He was a good man. Harold suffered through many health problems over the last several years with 2022, by far, being the most difficult for him. On Monday, January 30, Harold fell and suffered a head injury and brain bleed. He died peacefully later that night at UAMS in Little Rock. We want to thank the Paramedics and medical staff at Conway Regional Medical Center and UAMS for their exceptional care. Between the two dates that mark his coming and going, Harold lived a full, happy, and interesting life. He had an "Ozzie and Harriet" childhood on Parker Street in North Little Rock and graduated from North Little Rock High School in 1963. In his pre-teen years, he learned to play drums. At around age 13, his dad began driving him to band gigs. Some of the early gigs were in chicken-wire-wrapped band stands in juke joints around North Little Rock and Little Rock. He was too young to be in the joints, but his mom and dad approved, so they let him in to play, and he enjoyed all of it. In the late sixties, he began playing for Charlie Rich and played and traveled with him through Charlie's 1974 CMA Entertainer of the Year award and Charlie's 1975 ballot-burning announcement of John Denver as the new CMA Entertainer of the Year. Harold played drums everywhere – honky-tonks with sawdust floors in Arkansas, Madison Square Garden in New York, NLR High School Band, Miss Arkansas pageants, Broadway productions, Vapors acts, Red Apple Inn acts, sit-ins with local musicians, the Troubadour, Anchorage, Willie Nelson's first picnic, the Pine Bluff Country Club with the Sunnyland Big Band, and many others we do not know about. When he left the road, his band played at Mariner's Cove in North Little Rock. During that time, he learned the jewelry trade and bought a jewelry business in the Donaghey Building in Little Rock in 1980. His state-wide clients included old money, new money, and little money. He loved performing the jewelry trade for his customers. Harold retired from the jewelry business in 2018, not because he wanted to, but because his health required it. He missed the business and his customers until the end of his life. There are so many more stories to tell and so much more to say about Harold. He was born in '45, and died in ‘23, but he sure made the most of the dash in between. He loved playing, partying, and dancing around town in the ninety's, dining out in Little Rock, gambling in Vegas, and hunting escapades at the duck cabin with his friends and brother-in-law Jack. Many of you have your own stories to tell, and we would love to hear them. Our stories are that we loved him, we are grateful he filled our lives with great memories, and we will always miss him. Join us in celebrating Harold's life at Roller-McNutt Funeral Home in Conway, on February 4, 2023, with visitation at 1 p.m., and service at 2 p.m. Online guestbook: www.rollerfuneralhomes.com/guestbook/conway

Published February 2, 2023

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