EMPORIA — Kathleen McMurray-Bingham, 78, a former resident of Savonburg and Erie, died at 10:55 p.m. Friday, Jan. 22, 2010, at St. Francis Medical Center in Wichita. She was diagnosed with cancer in September 2009.

She was born Nov. 2, 1931, in Mason County, W.Va., to David Ellis and Iva May (Parsons) Donohue. As a young girl, she attended schools in Harrisonville, Ohio.

On Feb. 16, 1948, she married John L. McMurray in Harrisonville, Ohio. The couple moved to Atchison, Kan., in 1959, then to Lansing in 1969, and Savonburg in 1972. He preceded her in death on Dec. 25, 1985.

In 1989, she moved to Erie, where she was employed by Pierce-Carson-Wall Funeral Home for several years. On October 14, 1995, she married Billy R. Bingham in Erie. The couple moved to Emporia in May 2002, and had lived there since.

Through the years, she attended Temple Baptist Church in Erie, Westside Baptist Church in Emporia and Savonburg Bible Church. She enjoyed sewing, quilting, crocheting and gardening.

Survivors include her husband, Billy R. Bingham, of the home, Emporia; three sons, John D. McMurray of Savonburg, James L. McMurray of Iola and Robert A. McMurray of Benedict; 19 grandchildren; 25 great-grandchildren; two brothers, Raymond Donohue of Pomeroy, Ohio, and Ray Donohue of Panama City, Fla.; and two sisters, Ruth Gillilan of Davenport, Fla., and Olive Stobart of Cumberland Furnace, Tenn.

She was preceded in death by a brother, Laurance Donohue; a sister, Mildred Lee; a son, Carl McMurray, on May 21, 1999; a granddaughter, Amanda; and a great-granddaughter, Johannah.

The service will be at 10 a.m. today at Savonburg Bible Church. Burial will follow in Mount Moriah Cemetery in Savonburg. The family will received friends on Monday at Forbes-Hoffman Funeral Home in Parsons.

Memorials are suggested to the American Cancer Society and may be left at or mailed to the funeral home, P.O. Box 374, Parsons, 67357.

Online condolences may be left at forbeshoffman.com.