Gertha Myrtle (Murdock) Stroud (1896 - 1924)

Born 25 Apr 1896 in Cooper, Missouri, United States

Died 13 Jul 1924 at age 28 in Coweta, Wagoner, Oklahoma, United States

Biography

Gertha was born in 1896 to Jacob S. (1846-1917) and Emily S. Sears (1854-1946) Murdock.

She married Roy William Stroud in 1915.

Gertha's obituary

Times-Star Newspaper- Coweta, OK. July, 1924

MEETS DEATH IN VERDIGRIS- Swimming Party Results Fatally for Young Coweta Woman

Mrs. Gertha Stroud, age 26, wife of Roy Stroud met sudden death last Sunday afternoon (July 13, 1924), while swimming in the Verdigris River, east of Coweta ,OK. Mr. and Mrs. Stroud with their two boys ages 3 and 5, had been in the water for some time when Roy told his wife to send the boys out,which she did. Then she asked Roy to teach her to swim. He was attempting to do this when they reached a point in the river where the current was swift and the water deep. Apparently, Mrs. Stroud then became frightened, with the result that Roy was forced under and he came near being drowned himself. Aided by his brother-in-law who was a member of the party, Roy got his wife out of the water within a few moments, but efforts to resuscitate her were unavailing. It is believed that her heart failed her from fright as she showed no signs of life whatever. Funeral services were conducted Wednesday by Rev. D.E. Gambrell at the A. Kelley home after which remains were laid to rest in the Vernon Cemetery. A host of friends join the Times-Star in extending sympathy to Mr. Stroud, his two little boys (Delbert, age 5 and Homer, age 3), and others bereft by the untimely passing of this wife and mother.

Sources

• "Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995." Database with images. FamilySearch. "Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVPX-ZM1G : 4 November 2017), Roy William Stroud and Gertha Murdock, 05 Sep 1915; citing Oklahoma, various county courthouses, Oklahoma; FHL microfilm.
• "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MJ9Q-MS1 : accessed 8 February 2020), Gertha Stroud in household of Roy W Stroud, Coweta, Wagoner, Oklahoma, United States; citing ED 174, sheet 5A, line 24, family 108, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 1483; FHL microfilm 1,821,483.