LOWELL MURRAY Jr.

1926 - 2017

Lowell Thomas Murray, Jr. In the wee hours of July 5th, 2017, our father, L.T. Murray, Jr. (Tom), passed away in his sleep, after a day of ensuring his beloved fireworks show had his appropriate direction! Tom was born January 2, 1926 to Lowell Thomas Murray and Helen Bailey Murray. He was a graduate of the Taft School in Watertown CT and Yale University, where he was accepted in the Navy V-12 Engineering Officer Training Program in March 1944 and graduated in February 1946 with a Bachelor of Science from the School of Engineering. Commissioned as Ensign he completed a three-month training Cruise and was discharged at the Philadelphia Navy Yard the end of June 1946. After a variety of stints in the woods, he entered the University of Washington Forestry School, where he was awarded a Master's Degree in Forestry. In September 1948 he became Forester for his father's West Fork Timber tree farm. In 1951, he ventured out on his own to launch the Silver Creek Logging Company. That same year he met and married Catherine Marshall, who having recently graduated from Pomona, was a school teacher and hostess at the Smoke Tree Ranch, a prominent guest ranch in Palm Springs where he and his parents were vacationing. By 1956 they were joined by Lowell Thomas Murray III (Toby), Elizabeth Lee Murray (Liz), and James Marshall Murray (Jamie). Wishing not to send his children away to boarding school, he joined Sam Brown as one of the several founders of the Charles Wright Academy and was a trustee for many years. Tom's logging career ended abruptly when his father had a severe heart attack in 1969, and he took over the reins of West Fork Timber, later enlarging it to Murray Pacific as he expanded the company into log exporting and other endeavors. The highlight of his career was the recovering of complete control of Murray Pacific's timber holdings in an arbitration procedure against St. Regis Paper Company. Tom was a past president of the Tacoma Lumberman's Club, the youngest president of the Pacific Logging Congress, a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, both at Yale and the University of Washington, a trustee of Charles Wright Academy, the University of Portland, a director of Tacoma General Hospital and Tacoma Art Museum, a director of the Bank of Tacoma and then the First Interstate Bank of Washington, and the Murray Family Foundation. He was one of the original founders and director of the Western Forest Industries Museum, the Camp Six project at Pt. Defiance Park. Later he started the Mr. Rainier Scenic Railroad which has one of the world's largest collection of operable steam locomotives. With the closure of Camp Six, the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad and Museum is well on its way to becoming one of this country's top tourist railroads and logging museums. Tom was a lifetime member of the Tacoma Country and Golf Club, a past member of the Lakewood Racquet Club, the Washington Athletic Club, the Bohemia Club, the Cascade Club, and member and past president of the Tribe of SOYP. Nothing gave him greater joy than being with people, whether they were old friends from Tacoma or new friends acquired through travel or business. He genuinely loved people, and people in turn loved him back. Tom and Cathy were great hosts and will be long remembered for their Rose Bowl Parties and vacations at the Lodge in Mineral, the High Valley Ranch in Ellensburg, Palauea Beach complex in Maui, and their home at Smoke Tree. And for over 40 years he took company associates, suppliers, friends and relatives on fishing trips to British Columbia, where Tom became well-known as a great raconteur with his repertoire of risqu‚ stories. Twenty years of working in the woods resulted in arthritis that eventually ended his participation in golf and then tennis, but he remained an avid bridge player and skilled salmon fisherman. Besides his involvement with preserving steam locomotives and other logging equipment, Tom was the producer of one of Tacoma's more spectacular fireworks shows. Aided by his sons and his close young friends, Gerry Child and Lyle Peniston, for over 40 years he supplied the residents of Gravelly Lake with a 4th of July evening of pyrotechnical magic. Above all else, Tom's greatest love was family, including his Murray family as well as his Marshall family in-laws. Tom was preceded in death by his wife, Cathy, and is survived by his children, Toby (Laurie), Liz (Steve Kurtz) and Jamie (Sandra), as well as his grandchildren L.T. Murray IV, Kelsey Hayford, Kate and Kyra Mirante, and Bailey and Julia Murray. A celebration of Life service and reception will be held on August 8 at 6 pm at the Tacoma Country & Golf Club. For online obituary and guestbook page, please visit http://www.mountainviewtacoma.com/obituaries/L-T-Murray/#!/Obituary