memories...

Nancy & Jack Price

"We met about 30 years ago on our first Musical Missions trip. Jim & Rita had just moved to Plainfield and we had just reconnected with David & Cheryl Richards at a General Council meeting in Indianapolis. David invited us to join them on an upcoming Missions Trip. That is where we met Jim and Rita. We traveled back and forth from MI for a few practices and then went on the trip. Jim was my secret Santa on the trip. Since we were all new to the choir, we got to know each other quickly. We have been traveling and hanging out ever since! We had great times together traveling and hanging out with each others families. Our first big trip together, Jim said let's come up with a signal or saying to let everyone no that we are on each other's nerves and we need space. So Jack said, how about "Shut the hell up, you are getting on my last nerve." We all laughed and kept that montra throughout our times together! Live, laugh and love, just like Jim taught us!"

Chad McClanahan

"Uncle Jim had the rare ability to connect with children and take a genuine interest in them. Most adults talk to other people’s children for a minute or two and then are finished. But not Uncle Jim. Jim would go out of his way to talk to children. He had patience and the ability to shut up and listen. Every child felt special and important when talking to Jim, including my two children, Aubrey and Lennon.

I remember from a very young age the fun and the humor that Jim had. One of my earliest memories was of him showing us that he could pop his nose. He would cup both hands around his nose and then move them to the left or right, and you could hear a distinct popping sound. And the expression on his face looked like it was painful, so I felt honored that he was showing me this amazing ability. It wasn’t until years later that I realized he wasn’t really popping his nose, he was just making a popping sound with his hands over his mouth.

I also remember playing games with Uncle Jim like cards, Racko, and especially Scrabble. Jim was an excellent Scrabble player. He knew every trick and small word. He could play a few tiles and make words going both horizontal and vertical in the same move, and he never passed up an opportunity to play on a triple word score. Of all the times we played, I think I only beat him once.

When I was 14, I stayed with the Murrays for a week during the summer of 1988. It was one of the best weeks of my life. It was so different from living at home, and for one of the first times in my life I was able to have a taste of freedom and independence, and I realized that I wasn’t quite a kid anymore. While I was staying there, Jim was still my uncle, but I had to listen to him like he was my dad. He was a great guy, but when he asked you to do something, it was in your best interest to listen or experience his wrath. Jim’s wrath was intense and fiery, but it was surface wrath because it didn’t last very long.

One thing I adored about Uncle Jim was how funny and personable he was, especially in public with strangers. Ben, Nick, Jim and I went to see the M. Night Shyamalan movie The Happening in 2008. In this apocalyptic movie, people were influenced by a mysterious power to suddenly stop moving, take a few steps backwards, and then turn murderous or suicidal. It was a creepy movie. At the end of the crowded movie we got up and started leaving the theater. Jim suddenly stopped in his tracks for a long pause, took a few steps backwards, and then pulled the straw out of his giant cup and stabbed himself in the neck. I would guess about 2 dozen people watched him and we all laughed. It was great. His comedic timing was impeccable.

Last summer I was able to get Uncle Jim and my dad together for brunch at a local truck stop. They hadn’t sat down together to talk in over 30 years. The conversations we had that day were all over the place, but it was one of the best sit down casual talks I’ve ever been a part of. Our witty conversations carried on for almost two hours, then we came back to my house and Uncle Jim beat us both at Scrabble, even if you added our two scores together he would still have beaten us. I was really thankful for that day, and I’ll cherish the memory.

Jim was a great man and so many other things too: teacher, principal, Christian, friend, father, brother, son, and uncle. I will miss him tremendously, but I will also honor his memory and life lessons by passing along kindness and patience and much-needed attention to children. And I see a lot of children on a daily basis since I’m an elementary reading teacher.

Uncle Jim, Love you man!"

Chandler Murray

"My grandpa was truly one of one.
There has, and never will be, a single grandpa like him.
He loved like no other.
Was loved like no other.
Laughed like no other.
Lived like no other.
Truly one of one.
I've never met someone like him before.
Someone who could brighten anyone's day with a joke no matter how corny.
Someone who would jump on a strangers back in a movie theater to make his family laugh.
Someone who after almost 2 decades of battling cancer, and years off & on of chemo treatments never failed to keep a smile on his face.
Truly one of one.
My grandpa was a fighter through & through.
A real life Avenger.
But he didn't have to get into a boxing ring, or pilot a jet, or put on spandex and a cape.
He was a fighter in the sense of no matter how many times life kicked him down, he got right back up and kept trucking forward.
Paps was a man who feared nothing and no one.
He wasn't afraid to talk to any stranger he met.
That was something that (don't get me wrong, was embarrassing at times) but something I always admired about him.
Something I've always struggled to do, but someone I will strive to always be.
I've never met someone who has accumulated more friends over the years as my grandparents.
Everyone loves them.
Everyone wants to hang out with them, go on trips around the country and world with them, play card games every week with them.
They both have made impacts on countless peoples lives.
I will always love them both, and I'll never forget my Paps."

Teresa Rogan

"There are so many memories it’s hard to pick one but I will think on that. For him to have a come back to me with a song within 24 hours of his passing says something about his sense of humor. He was a mentor/role model/friend to so many including me and my family. We met Jim and Rita when we were pretty new Christian’s and we are better for knowing them. I especially loved his, sometimes on the line, inappropriate sense of humor 😊I will try to be like Jim Murray."

Wayne Jackson

"One of the best men I ever knew. In April of 1974, Jim Murray and I, on the very same day, surrendered our lives to Jesus Christ. That was the beginning of a 50 year friendship. We played together, sang in several groups together, worked together, and served in numerous capacities at church together. Our families were so entwined that when Ben and Nick were born, from the time they could talk, we were Aunt & Uncle! The stories I could tell about my friend are too numerous to share but, memories last a lifetime! As Christians, our goal has always been to make heaven our eternal home.....you win, my friend, you win!!!"

George & Carol McPherson

"He was one of our dearest friends….and yes he always made people laugh, that’s a gift. We will sorely miss him, he was such a gentle soul. He is with the Lord and we are thankful that his long battle with cancer is over. Someday we will never have to lose another loved one. 🤗 Our deepest heartfelt sympathy for you in your loss."