Sheila Murray Fortune

INDIANAPOLIS - Sheila Murray Fortune, 76, died peacefully on April 25 at her home in Boulder, Colorado. She was born on January 10, 1948, to Russell Fortune, Jr., and Martha Murray Fortune. She was predeceased by her parents; brother Carter Murray Fortune; sister-in-law Penny B. Fortune; and niece Deborah Fortune Hunter. She is survived by her daughter Sophia Fortune Gold of Villanova, Pennsylvania; grandchildren Hannah Gold and Robert Gold; brother Russell (Jock) Fortune III of Indianapolis; niece Heather Fortune of Indianapolis; and nephew Russell Carter Fortune of Freedom, Indiana.

Sheila attended Tudor Hall School in Indianapolis and St. Margaret’s School in Tappahannock, Virginia. Afterward, she attended Emerson College in Boston and the University of Colorado in Boulder. She met lawyer Daniel Israel of Philadelphia while living in New York City. They married in 1971 and moved to Boulder, Colorado, where daughter Sophia was born in 1974. Sheila worked for many years as a filmmaker. She spent the later years of her life providing leadership and vision to her Sheila Fortune Foundation, which serves underprivileged children by bringing access to the arts. She believed the arts lift us all up by providing an important outlet for creativity and self-expression. The Foundation is active in Colorado, Indiana, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania. Sheila was a creative force of nature, beloved by many, funny, smart, tenacious, and very generous. She also cultivated her organic farm, Fortune Acres, in the Traders Point area of Indianapolis.

A private memorial service will be held at St. Francis In-The-Fields Episcopal Church in Zionsville, followed by burial in the Fortune family mausoleum at Crown Hill Cemetery. Please consider making memorial contributions to St. Francis In-The-Fields Episcopal Church, 1525 Mulberry Street, Zionsville, Indiana 46077 (stfranciszionsville.org).