Jun 28, 1941 - Apr 3, 2018
Murray put up a strong fight against Parkinson's Disease, after a lifetime of helping others, but passed away on April 3, 2018.
Murray is survived by Juanita, his wife of 40 years, his sons, Bruce (Michel), Murray (Cory) stepson Scott Napier (Lenora), and his 7 grandchildren - Kate, Emma, Charlotte, Ben, Malcolm, Ashley, and Ryan.
He is also survived by his sisters, Ann (George) Rodger, and Barbara (Ron) Hasan, his nephews, Peter and David (Melanie) Rodger, and niece Adrienne (Adrian) Cristini.
Born in Mount Forest, ON, to a naval Chaplain, Murray lived on both coasts of the country he loved so much. Murray attended Glenlyon Preparatory School in Victoria, B.C. where he excelled at sports and studies, winning a scholarship to Ridley College in St. Catherines, ON. He was accepted after graduation to Pre-Med at the University of Toronto. In Halifax, he worked in the Pathology Lab at the Victoria General Hospital, and completed his Bsc and BA degrees while waiting acceptance to Dalhousie Medical School. He was President of the Phi Chi Medical Fraternity and compared his time in the fraternity to "Animal House" starring John Belushi; Murray would roar with laughter each time he watched it, as it reminded him so much of these days.
Murray followed his heart, and was a romantic dreamer. He lived music, and played guitar and sang. He formed a bluegrass group and would drive out to Peggy's Cove always in his sports car or on a motorcycle to play with local bands, He fished, hunted and scuba-dived, in addition to dancing and singing, all while working toward his goal of being a doctor.
After graduating Med School in 1969, Murray drove across Canada to Vancouver to work with the World Health Organization. He discovered Langley and decided this was where he wanted to hang his hat and shingle. He spent a year working with Dr. Fred Ceresney before opening his own office in 1971. He received his "practice privileges" at the Langley Memorial Hospital and was well respected during his 31 years of service.
Murray reluctantly retired in 2001, 6 years after his diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease. He would always talk about how much he missed medicine.
Murray loved the wild west cowboy history of BC; he often said he must have been a cowboy in a previous life. He enjoyed spending time outdoors, hunting and fishing with friends, watching the local Langley Rugby boys play, and meeting with "table 1" at the Murrayville Pub for Monday night football. He was involved with Ducks Unlimited, BC Wildlife Federation, Canadian Wildlife
Federation and the Steelhead Society of BC.
His favourite place on Earth was his cabin at Gun Lake, where he would play with his toys and projects, then sit on the dock with a beer in hand and dog by his side, and simply enjoy the beauty of nature. Other travel included tug boat trips in the Gulf Islands, motorcycle road trips across Canada and the US and winter vacations in Mexico, but the Lake was his place.
Murray was a strong, take-charge, "go for it" kind of man. Undoubtedly, he could be stubborn at times. We will miss him and his "Murray way" of doing things.
His loving family....
Friends are invited to join the family to celebrate Murray's life on Sunday, April 29, @ 1:00 p.m.Eat Manhattans Steak House, 22070 48A Ave. Langley BC.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Parkinson Society of Canada.