Years After a Tragedy, a Sister Finds a Way to Make a Difference
When Lyndall Ruth Furlong was 24 years old, she tragically lost her younger brother George Lee Furlong when he was killed in an automobile accident near Bardwell, Kentucky.
The year was 1957, and 18-year-old George had just started his freshman year of college at Murray State College (now Murray State University). His academic records suggest that he was intending on a career as an instructor in Industrial Arts. Sadly, that was never to be, as young George was killed during the Christmas holiday after only one semester at Murray State.
Lyndall and George were both born and grew up in Arlington, Kentucky, along with their other brother Huey, to the late Lovelace “Tobe” and Lillian Mix Furlong. Before attending Murray State, George graduated high school from Arlington School in Carlisle County, Kentucky, where he served as vice president of his senior class and was remembered as a fun-loving fellow whose smile and sense of humor made him popular among his classmates.
Lyndall went on to live most of her life in Carlisle County. She was a member of Hopewell Baptist Church, and worked with the Deena Manufacturing Company, which made lamps, for over 30 years, and then National Ceramics Inc. for another 17 years. Active in her community, she was a member of the Jolly Seniors and the Woodmen of the World Bardwell Lodge 38. Lyndall passed away at the age of 89, and she had a plan to memorialize her brother George.
Although Lyndall lived her entire life with the pain of the early loss of her little brother, she chose to make meaning from that tragedy by making a difference in the lives of others. As part of her estate plans, she designated a significant gift to Murray State to create the George Lee Furlong Scholarship Endowment, which will provide scholarships to at least three students from Carlisle County every year for generations to come.
Her brother never got to finish college, but through her planned gift, Lyndall has helped to make George’s dreams become a reality for others following in the footsteps he never got to finish taking.
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