DelcoReviewSummer2017 - 19

www.DelcoBar.org

of the Gilded Age into the 20th century and arranged for an
extravaganza in the Blue Room of the Hotel DuPont, known for
lavish design elements and complete with blue flaming baked
Alaska. He invited all of the Past Presidents as guests and gifted
each with a bound copy of the U.S. Constitution engraved in
gold. Murray, front and center in his white tails, is surrounded
by a number of familiar faces of Delaware County, all seemingly
very happy with the grandeur of the evening.
An Educator... Murray has taught as an adjunct professor of
law at the Penn State University, Delaware County Campus. He
was a member of the panel lecturing on the art of negotiations on
behalf of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and was the course planner and lecturer for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute on the subject
of law office management for small and medium-sized law firms.
Award Recipient... Murray has received every major
award available to be presented by the Delaware County Bar
Association for service to the profession including the Donald J.
Orlowsky Memorial Award in 1980; the E. Wallace Chadwick
Memorial Award in 1988; the Paul R. Sand Award in 1991;
and the Elizabeth C. Price Award in 2005. Murray has served
12 years in the disciplinary system of the Supreme Court of
Pennsylvania. He has been a member of the Disciplinary Board
by direct appointment from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
and in 1993-1994 was its chairman.
In the air...the Pilot. Murray took lessons out of law school
but ultimately gave up flying, a costly pastime, to pay college
tuitions. Much to his surprise, there was much to be learned about
flying a plane. Murray learned to fly prior to GPS. He took his
instrument training mostly at night and relates that Philadelphia
International was most cooperative in practicing precision radar
approaches with him and his instructor often at or after midnight.
This radar approach to landing consisted of multiple commands
from the tower controller to the pilot to keep him in the approach
path resulting in landing the nose wheel of the plane on the
centerline of the runway. This approach was used in emergency
or extremely bad weather conditions.
Murray has flown an instrument and twin engine into the
Grand Canyon and to Boston for dinner. He recalls a time one
July 4th weekend when he flew Jack Larkin and a couple of
fishing buddies from Philadelphia to Nova Scotia where they
would catch a flight to Newfoundland for salmon fishing. Murray
accepted the challenge, flew by instrument, remained in a holding
pattern until taxiing under the wing of a huge jet where his
passengers would ultimately board with their fishing equipment.
Murray to this day remains a member of AOPA (Aircraft Owners
and Pilots Association), and serves on a panel of lawyer/pilots
providing powerful representation for pilots in need of legal
services.
On the ground, to scale... You must have a passion for
history if you spend over 30 years recreating it. With the steady
hand of a surgeon, Murray has built trains, caisson cannons,
and an exact replica of the Arnold built "Philadelphia" gun boat
sunk by the British and found at the bottom of the Hudson. His
first creation of significance... the Wells Fargo wagon coach, the

"Cadillac of Coaches," took him over one year to complete. More
than glue and bells and whistles, these kits from which Murray
works replicate the original with steerable wooden wheels,
working suspension and opening doors. Cast metal wheel hubs,
axles and door hinges; brass strips, rods, nails, nuts and bolts and
photo-etched brass parts add authentic detail.
His greatest accomplishment... Musician! Murray tried to
start an "orchestra," a DCBA ensemble if you will, with Sam
Toll on violin, Joe DiFuria on clarinet and Murray on flute and
piano. It never really did play out but Murray recounts many
fond memories of the Dickinson Glee Club, Class of '56. The
College's musical tradition dates back to at least 1858 when the
Medal of Honor winner and author, alumni Horatio Collins King,
wrote the Alma Mater, Noble Dickinsonia.

"Vividly transmitting through song, the spirit of
Dickinson and the joy of the arts."
Dickinson is the 11th oldest college in the United States,
having been founded by Dr. Benjamin Rush in 1773. The
tradition of men's singing at Dickinson can be traced back to
at least 1868, with the publication of the first yearbook, The
Microcosm, in the spring of that year. In 1937, the College
published a book titled Songs of Dickinson, which contains
over seventy works from Dickinson's past. Following a rapid
disappearance during the years of World War II, men's singing
returned to campus in 1952 with the founding of a new Glee
Club, which the following year made a record of college songs.
They recorded another record in 1954 and lasted until the 1970s.
For twenty years, the limestone walls were devoid of studentrun singing, until 1996 when The Octals were founded by eight
intrepid young musicians. This marked the revival of male a
cappella singing, which had been absent from Dickinson College,
since the disbanding of the Men's Glee Club in the early '70s.
The Octals proudly carry on the torch of men's singing at the
College. Every other year, they gather with former members of
the Glee Club at Alumni Weekend to cement this tradition and
create new ones.
Murray and his wife, Elayne, enjoy time spent with their
children and grandchildren; both are avid golfers and reside in
Upper Providence.
continued on next page

Summer 2017

| 19

http://www.DelcoBar.org

DelcoReviewSummer2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DelcoReviewSummer2017