by Mike Russo
³[She was] the best teacher I ever had,² said former student Bryan Kassebaum, 15. ³She would walk in and be smiling and you would always have fun in her class.²
Murray was best known at Holy Name of Mary for her kind way and gentle personality. The Rev. Thomas Harold, the church¹s pastor for the past seven years, said he never heard a single complaint about her. ³Ms. Murray was truly a master teacher, and she will be missed,² he said. Harold described her as a person of ³openness, simplicity, and with a sense of freedom.² He said that she was open to any changes in the school and administration, and enjoyed the friendships she had with her students.
³You felt very comfortable right away,² said Evelyn O¹Hara, who was a student in Murray¹s third-grade class in 1988. She described her experience in Murray¹s class as ³mind-opening.²
According to those who know her, Murray generated a constant flow of new ideas throughout her four decades of teaching. She did a variety of creative projects with her students throughout her career. She constantly looked for ways to enrich her classroom, such as integrating art with her teaching, said Stephanie Darcy, an art teacher at the school for three years. Darcy remembers how she helped Murray¹s students create ³God¹s eyes,² an arts and crafts project with popsicle sticks and yarn, and Chinese fans. Murray¹s classes also created passports for whichever country she made come alive in her lessons.
One year, Murray persuaded Home Depot to help her class create birdhouses. ³It was a pleasure to be able to work with Mary and her class,² said Darcy. Her favorite store is Michael¹s, and she often used its materials to create her beautiful arts and crafts projects, said Kathleen Quinn, the eighth-grade language arts teacher. ³Mary is our resident poet laureate,² Quinn added. ³She always created a poem for any fair or function of the church and school.²
Mayor Edward Cahill got to know Murray when his wife, Mary Ann, was a crossing guard at Holy Name of Mary. ³The person you see in public is the same person you see in private,² he said. ³Concerned about others and truly kind. She was a once-in-a-lifetime person ‹ a great teacher and a great person.²
To honor Murray, the school¹s Conlon scholarship, named after another teacher who also retired after 42 years, was renamed the Conlon-Murray Scholarship. Mary Conlon was a second-grade teacher when Murray first arrived at the school in 1963. She was a good friend and a mentor to Murray. ³They became very good friends and remain very good friends,² said Sharon Daly, who organized Murray¹s retirement party.
³The scholarship is offered to two students in the seventh grade based on their academic achievements, service to the community and school, their leadership, attitudes and Christianity,² Daly explained. The scholarship is intended to assist students with their tuition.
Murray said she wanted to thank ³a great faculty and staff, parents and Father Tom.²
³Pick a job you love, do it to the best of your ability, laugh a lot, respect other people and respect yourself,² she said, ³and pray that you¹ll be blessed with the good people like I¹ve been blessed.²
