Oldham County History Center Gala
Duane, Anne Murner honored as ‘Champions of History’
The Crestwood, Ky., couple received award
at OCHS Gala
LA GRANGE, Ky. (July 2019) – Duane and Anne Murner are a couple who are dedicated to Oldham County, Ky. Serving in different capacities over the years, they have proven that history is an integral part of their lives and is woven into most of the things that they have accomplished.
For their many contributions, the couple was honored at this year’s Oldham County Historical Society’s 18th annual Gala. For numerous reasons, they were a great choice to be the recipients of the 2019 J.C. Barnett Champions of Oldham County History Award on Friday, June 21, on the grounds of the Oldham County History Center in La Grange.
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Photo provided Anne and Duane Murner are fixtures in Oldham County as dedicated volunteers and supporters of local history. |
It seems the Murners were destined to spend their lives together. Anne said that “we met in first grade in Chicago.”
Although it wasn’t until many years later that they began seriously dating, fate reunited them with a union that produced six children: Siobhan Reidy, deceased son Christopher (widow Lori Murner), Tim, Dan, Edward and Michaela Hafley. The Murners will celebrate another milestone this year, their 60th anniversary.
Before marrying, Anne graduated from Mundelein College, a Catholic women’s college now affiliated with Loyola University Chicago. Duane graduated from Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.
Anne chose to remain at home raising their children while Duane worked for Prudential Insurance Co. They moved to Kentucky in 1980 when he became president of Commonwealth Insurance Co., finally settling on a small 200-year-old farm and farmhouse outside Crestwood. Anne said, “We’ve lived all over the country, but I’m glad we ended up in Kentucky.”
Duane was born in Portland, Ore., but raised in Chicago and Aberdeen, S.D. Like his wife, he has been heavily involved in many aspects of the community. Duane has been on the board of Baptist Hospital in La Grange, active with the county’s Development Authority, served on the board of the South Oldham Fire Department, served as an Oldham County Fiscal Court magistrate and as Oldham County Judge-Executive and served on the Board of Directors for the Oldham County Historical Society.
This year’s Gala theme, “Marquis de Lafayette Masquerade,” was a nod to France, a country near and dear to the Murners’ hearts. It is also the homeland of French aristocrat and military officer Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834), who aided America in winning the Revolutionary War and commanded American troops in several battles.
The name for the town of La Grange was chosen to honor the French estate of the Marquis de Lafayette. The Chateau de la Grange, complete with a castle, was the Marquis’s home in France.
He visited American in 1824 as a guest of the nation and was entertained by his friends, Maj. William Berry Taylor and Taylor’s uncle, Commodore Richard Taylor, two very influential men in the founding of Oldham County.
The Murners received the J. Chilton Barnett Champion of Oldham County History Award during the Gala. This award has been given out since 2002 to an individual who has demonstrated a sincere interest in Oldham County history and a desire and effort to preserve that history for future generations. Past recipients include Theodore Klein, Bill and Dottie Lammlein, J.W. and Rose Ethel Hall, Steve Wilson and Laura Lee Brown, Bill Samuels Jr., and Joyce and Barney Barnett.
As with these past recipients, Duane Murner has made special efforts to bring history to the forefront. He has portrayed three Kentucky Chautauqua characters for the Kentucky Humanities Council such as U.S. Vice President John Cabell Breckinridge, Confederate General, politician and 30th governor of Kentucky Simon Bolivar Buckner, and U.S. Congressman Caleb Powers.
Anne has been involved in the Oldham County Educational Foundation, been on the board of the Oldham County Public Library, the board of ElderServe and a member of the Crestwood Civic Club since the mid-1980s. She served as first Chair of the Gala Committee for the annual Oldham County History Center Gala.
They both have been very involved by serving on various committees in their former church, Immaculate Conception Church, and currently attend Epiphany Catholic Church in Louisville. Together, they were the 2012 recipients of the Oldham Countian of the Year award.