John F. Murray

John F. Murray died on August 16, 2024 at Schowalter Villa in Hesston, Kansas. He was born August 1, 1932 in Niagara County, New York on a farm about 3 miles south of Gasport. He was the 12th of 14 children born to Elmer F. and Lydia (Hooley) Murray.
On June 6, 1958 he married Marilyn Stauffer in Milford, Nebraska, the daughter of Uriah and Edna (Troyer) Stauffer. They had two children Kathleen Karen and John Charles.
John being among the youngest of 14 children and Marilyn being the oldest of 4 created some interesting inter-family dynamics. One being that John's oldest brother, Gerald, was four months older than Marilyn's father.
John graduated from Royalton-Hartland Central High School, Middleport, New York. He received a bachelor degree from Goshen College, Goshen, IN and a master's degree from Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN.
From 1954 to 1956, John was in the Mennonite Voluntary Service Program at a hospital in LaPlata, Puerto Rico.
In a career that spanned 30 years, he taught high school government, economics and Spanish at Kouts High School, Kouts, IN.
In addition to teaching, John was ordained to Christian ministry on May 20, 1962 at the Hopewell Mennonite Church, Kouts, Indiana where he served as one of the pastors for 30 years. Following his retirement from the Hopewell congregation he served as an Interim Pastor in seven churches in the Indiana – Michigan Mennonite Conference and as an Overseer in three congregations.
John's hobby was genealogy. His children grew up thinking all families spent their vacations visiting cemeteries and courthouses. He authored three family history books, wrote articles for several genealogy magazines and gave presentations at a variety of family reunions. He served first as Vice President, then as President of the Michiana Anabaptist Historical Society.
The combination of pastoral leadership in the Mennonite Church and a personal interest in history and genealogy led to a significant personal library including Anabaptist history and theology and family history. This extensive collection along with his notes from personal research has been donated to the Illinois Amish Heritage Center in Arthur, Illinois.
With the assistance of his daughter Kathleen, John had his own blog site, "John Murray's Musings" on which many of his sermons, reflections and family history research are published. It can be accessed at: https://johnmurraymusings.wordpress.com/. The subtitle of his blog is "The sky is always clear above the clouds," which was one of his favorite sayings.
In 2008 John and Marilyn moved to Hesston, Kansas to be near their children.
Surviving are his wife, Marilyn; son John (Krista) Murray of Hesston, Kansas; three grandchildren, John (Denay) Murray, St. Paul, MN, Joel (Katie Miller) Murray, Harrisonburg, VA, and Meghana Murray, St. Louis Park, MN; two great-grandsons, JD and Theodore Murray; sisters Shirley Miller of Harrisonburg, VA and Doris Klingelsmith of Sarasota, FL; son-in-law, Jon (Kris) Friesen of North Newton, Kansas; and two step grandchildren, Blake Friesen and Jaecy (Lexi) Friesen.
He was preceded in death by his parents, daughter Kathleen Foster Friesen, son-in-law John Foster, and 11 of his siblings.
A memorial service will be held on September 21, 2024 at 10:30 a.m. at Hesston Mennonite Church in Hesston, KS. The family will be available for visitation before the service from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. There will be a private burial at Eastlawn Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Illinois Amish Heritage Center, 284 IL 133, Arthur, IL 61911 where the John F. Murray Anabaptist History and Genealogy Collection will be housed. You can make a memorial contribution at this weblink: https://www.illinoisamish.org/donate.