[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16562]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           IN HONOR AND MEMORY OF BISHOP GEORGE MOSLEY MURRAY

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 28, 2006

  Mr. BONNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the life of 
Bishop George Mosley Murray, the founding bishop of the Episcopal 
Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast, who passed away earlier this month.
  Bishop Murray was the first bishop of the Central Gulf Coast diocese, 
which encompasses south Alabama and northwest Florida, and for 10 
years, he provided steady leadership during a period of change in the 
Episcopal Church. The diocese prospered under his leadership, growing 
from 25 parishes in 1971, to 64 congregations today with over 22,000 
members. In honor of the first bishop of the diocese, the name Murray 
House was chosen for the diocesan assisted living facility.
  Bishop Murray graduated from the University of Alabama in 1940 with a 
bachelor of science degree in business administration and worked for 
General Electric in North Carolina for two years. He served four years 
in the military during World War II with two years aboard the U.S.S. 
Pintado. In 1948, he graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary in 
Alexandria, Virginia, with a masters of divinity degree. He served five 
years as Episcopal chaplain at the University of Alabama. Bishop Murray 
was elected Suffragan Bishop of Alabama in 1953, Bishop Coadjutor of 
Alabama in 1959, and became the Bishop of Alabama in 1969.
  Bishop Murray received honorary degrees of doctor in divinity from 
Virginia Theological Seminary in 1954 and the University of the South. 
He also received the Algrenon Sydney Sullivan award, honorary degrees 
and a doctor of laws degree from the University of Alabama.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in remembering a 
dedicated leader and friend to many in the Gulf Coast area. Bishop 
George Murray will be deeply missed by his family--his wife, Margaret 
MacQueen Murray; his children, George Malcolm Murray, William Gerard 
Murray and Sara Duncan Murray; stepchildren, John C. Rockett, III, 
Margaret Grace Rockett and James MacQueen Rockett; and grandchildren. 
Our thoughts and prayers are with them all during this difficult time.

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