"A memorial service is set for Stanley Murray, Professor Emeritus of History, at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 10, at the Federated Church, 2122 17th Ave. South, Grand Forks. Dr. Murray, 70, died Thursday, Jan. 1, at home in Lake Park, Minn.
Born in Fargo Aug. 16, 1927, he was the son of Byron and Nora Murray. He graduated from high school in Moorhead in 1945, and served in the U.S. Navy. In 1949, he graduated from Moorhead State University. He taught social studies and English in Sisseton, S.D., before going on to earn his doctorate in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1963. He married Marjorie Maier, whom he met in graduate school, in 1956.
He taught American History at North Dakota State University from 1956 until 1967, when he joined the history faculty at UND. He taught the American History Survey course nearly every year of his tenure here. He researched aviation, railroad, institutional, Indian, and American economic history. He wrote The Valley Comes of Age: A History of Agriculture in the Valley of the Red River of the North, 1812-1920. He retired from the University in 1993.
'Stan Murray was a first-rate historian and dedicated teacher,' said D. Jerome Tweton, Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History. 'He was the authority on Red River Valley agriculture. His interests did not stop there, however. Later in his career, his interest turned to the history of aviation and he published a pioneer article on air transportation in this region. Sadly, Stan is gone, but his life's work lives on for other generations to appreciate.'
'I am deeply sorry to hear of Stan's passing,' wrote David Danborn, Professor of History at NDSU. 'He taught down here, of course, before I came here, and I know he always had a soft spot in his heart for us, as we had for him. Stan always struck me as a remarkably gentle man, in part, I suppose, because he was so quiet. I imagine he was a caring teacher. By coincidence, I reread his piece from North Dakota History on the Turtle Mountain Chippewa this week, and was reminded what a careful and thorough scholar he was.'
Dr. Murray is survived by his wife; daughters, Lynne Wymore and Carol Quintana, both of Madison, Wis., and Ann Folson, East Grand Forks; a son, Douglas, Edina, Minn.; five grandchildren, three brothers, and a sister. Memorials are suggested to First Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 13496, Grand Forks, N.D., 58208."
Source: University Letter, January 9, 1998
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