Robert Leo Murray

Murray, Robert Leo of Braintree, passed away on June 30, 2024. He was 95 years old.

Bob was the second of five sons, born in 1929, to Frederick and Margaret Murray. He grew up on Butler Street in Dorchester. He graduated from Boston College High School in 1946, and from Boston College in 1950. In 1951, Bob joined the U.S. Army, attended Army Language School to learn Russian, and served as a Corporal in Japan for three years during the Korean conflict. Bob received his master’s degree in education from Boston State in 1961 and soon became a teacher, working in the classroom at Boston Technical High School and Northeastern University where he taught mathematics. He went on to lead the Mathematics Department at Boston English High School, and in 1966 he joined the Boston School Administration as Associate Director for the Educational Planning Center. In 1970, Bob was assigned to the Racial Imbalance and Desegregation Planning Task Force where he worked to develop and implement plans to execute the court ordered desegregation of Boston Public Schools. He continued his 35-year career at the Boston School Administration until his retirement in 1989, serving as a Special Assistant to the Superintendent of Schools, Director of Facilities Management, and Director of Capital Improvement Programs.

Bob was dedicated to his family and spent many years caring for and advocating for his youngest son David, who had Downs Syndrome. Happily married for 66 years, he was tireless in his love for his wife Joan, and his six kids. Bob was an athlete, a lifelong golfer, and he played organized hockey on an over-60 team. He was competitive by nature, and he taught his kids that you could play hard and fair He attended endless games at the baseball and soccer fields – from little league to Saint Anselm College and started over again when his grandchildren were old enough to play. Bob loved the Thursday night poker games and the nights when he would drive down to Taunton to bet on the dogs. Bob always enjoyed time with extended family – his brothers, sister in-laws, nieces, and nephews, especially backyard cookouts, family vacations on the cape, and wiffleball games at the beach.

Bob was a man of the highest integrity, with a clear sense of right and wrong and he defended what he believed with an engaging, calm demeanor. He was committed to the ideal that every child was entitled to the opportunity of a quality education, and he did not back down in the face of strong public opposition during his time on the desegregation task force. To many, Bob was the person to go to for advice when difficult decisions were required, and he earned a reputation for competence, humility, and honesty that stretched well beyond his professional life.

Loving husband to the late Joan Margaret Murray. Cherished father to Robert G. Murray of Milton, Frederick J. Murray and his wife Debra of Easton, Mark W. Murray and his wife Maureen of Walpole, Ellen M. Jones and her husband Stuart of Duxbury, Brian P. Murray and his wife Susan of Scituate, and the late David F. Murray. Pops to Olivia, Donovan, Ryan, Alexa, Nolan, Colin, Bridget, Aidan, Lila, Freddie, Chloe, Serena, Matthew, Corey, and David. Great grandfather to Sadie and Miles. Brother to Paul Murray, the late Frederck Murray, the late Richard Murray, and the late William Murray.

Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to greet the family during the visiting hours on Monday, July 8, from 4-8 PM in the McDonald Keohane Funeral Home at 809 Main Street in South Weymouth. A Celebration of Life Service will be held in the funeral home at 9:45 AM on Tuesday, July 9, prior to the Funeral Mass in Sacred Heart Church, 72 Washington Street in Weymouth at 10:30 AM. Burial in St. Francis Xavier Cemetery, Weymouth. In lieu of flowers, donations in Bob’s name may be made to Medical Missionaries of Mary, 179 Highland Ave., Somerville MA. (https://mmmworldwide.org/donate/)