William R. "Bill" Murray

William “Bill” Rice Murray, 82, of Decatur, GA passed away peacefully on Wednesday October 24, 2018 at his home in Decatur, GA with his wife and children by his side. Born in Albany, NY, he was the son of Thomas Edmund Murray and Katherine Rice Murray.

Mr. Murray was a Captain in the United States Marine Corps where he served for 10 years including two combat tours in Vietnam. Captain Murray managed the development of an advanced communications system and led the deployment of the system in Vietnam which was vital for the U.S. war efforts. Capt. Murray also worked on the White House communications staff under Presidents Johnson and Kennedy. He was awarded a number of medals for his service in the Marines.

Mr. Murray had a distinguished 20-year career with IBM rising to the level of Regional Vice President and he then went on to teach quality and sales programs to Honda, GE, J&J and IBM globally.

Mr. Murray was a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA attending on a Marine Corps ROTC scholarship and was awarded master’s degrees from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA and The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

He and his wife Mary were heavily involved in their church, Saint Mark United Methodist Church in Atlanta, GA, with him serving as its Treasurer, on its finance committee, and in its choir.

He is survived by his loving wife of almost 23 years, Mary of Decatur, GA, son William “Bill” R. Murray, Jr. and his daughter Julia of Blackhawk, CA and her mother Suzette Murray of Livermore, CA; daughter Margot Murray Reavey, her husband Bill and son Bruce Vogelsberg, Jr of Greenville, SC; daughter Mikel-Ann Murray Scott, her husband, Drew, son Carson and daughter Sydney of Greenville, SC; daughter Megan Murray Chambers, her husband Garrard, daughter Jordan, sons Cameron and Sincere of Saint Joseph, MO; step-daughter Lauren Porter, her husband, Kevin, and sons James and Wesley of Decatur, GA; brother Thomas Murray and his wife Mary Jo of Bradenton, FL; brother David Murray and his wife Mavis of Lebanon, NH; and sister Elizabeth Stewart of Delmar, NY.

Bill was a wonderful Dad, husband, grandfather, uncle, son, brother, friend and a true hero Marine. He gave us all the best example of how to live your life – keeping your family first, serving your country, taking care of your friends, following his faith and just being a nice guy to everyone. He will be greatly missed by all who loved him and the world is not quite as good as it was with him in it. He is with God now and we all feel so blessed to have had him in our lives.

His funeral will be held at Saint Mark United Methodist Church (781 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA) at 3PM on Saturday November 3, 2018. Visitation will begin at 2PM at Saint Mark and a Reception will be held following the funeral at the Church. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Saint Mark United Methodist Church.