MOGMRMurray
RUSSELL E. MURRAY 1900-1973
Picture courtesy of Missouri Lodge of Research Archive
Grand Master, 1966-1967
BIOGRAPHY
From Missouri Lodge of Research (This biography might have been written prior to Bro. Murray's death; he died in 1973 and is buried in Valhalla Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri):
Russell Murray was born November 17, 1900 the second son of Henry Erners and Olla Cheatham Murray at the Town of Moselle, in Franklin County, Missouri. This was the foothill area of the Ozarks near the county seat of Union. His schooling took place in a one-room rural school and Union High School. He attended Drury College in Springfield for one year but the lure of the automobile took him a different direction, He moved to St Louis and enrolled in the YMCA Automotive School. His progress in attaining knowledge about automobiles and particularly about electrical equipment and a demonstrated ability to communicate knowledge to others caused those in charge to induce him to teach
In 1942, at the beginning of the war Brother Murray accepted a position as a Civilian Instructor in the St Louis School of Aeronautics for the Army Air Corps, teaching the electrical problems incident with aircraft motors.
After the war he founded the Murray Motor Corp. and became in 1948 a dealer for the Lincoln-Mercury Division of the Ford Motor Company.
His Masonic career began when he was raised in Missouri Lodge No 1, August 2, 1928. He served as Master of the Lodge in 1941 and 1946. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Masonic Home of Missouri, DDGM of the 33rd Masonic District, Appointed Grand Pursuivant in 1957 and elected Grand Master in 1966. He belonged to the Scottish and York Rites as well as Moolah Shrine.
He was privileged to accept, for our Grand Lodge, an invitation to attend the 250th Anniversary Celebration of the formation of the United Grand Lodge of England which was held in London.
