Athol Murray (January 9, 1892December 15, 1975) was a Canadian Catholic priest and educator. He built a collection of shacks in Wilcox, 55 km south of Regina into a non-denominational residential college. It began as a convent school founded by the sisters of Charity in 1920.

Biography

James Athol Murray was born on January 9, 1892, in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada, the son of James Peter and Nanno Hayes Murray. He was educated at Loyola College,

St. Michael's College School St. Michael's College School, (also known as St. Michael's, St. Mike's, and SMCS), is an independent, Catholic school for young men in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Administered by the Basilian Fathers, it is the largest school of its kind in Cana ...

, St. Hyacinthe College, and

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montm ...

. He clerked for a time in a law firm before entering St. Augustine Seminary in Toronto and was ordained in 1918. He was sent to Regina, where in 1923 he started the Regina Argos Club, an athletic club for boys. In 1927 Murray was assigned to St. Augustine's parish in Wilcox, Saskatchewan."Monsignor Athol Murray", Hockey Hall of Fame
/ref> Murray brought fifteen boys from Regina to Wilcox where they were enrolled in residential Notre Dame School, run by the Sisters of Charity of St. Louis. He began the high school program known as Notre Dame of the Prairies College. Murray was the inspirational force behind the famous

Notre Dame Hounds The Notre Dame Hounds are a junior "A" ice hockey team based in Wilcox, Saskatchewan, Canada. They are members of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL). The Hounds also had a junior "B" team that played in the South Saskatchewan Junior ...

hockey team. Known as ''Père'', he would never refuse a deserving student an education - even if that meant tuition was paid in potatoes and wheat rather than dollars and cents. Leading the college until his death, he influenced generations of Canadians and the development of Canadian hockey. Said Père Murray, "I love God, Canada and hockey -- not always in that order." The

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

team is known as the Notre Dame Hounds. More than 100 former Hounds have been drafted by

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

including

Wendel Clark Wendel L. Clark (born October 25, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. His professional career lasted from 1985 until 2000, during which time he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Quebec Nordiques, New York Islanders, Tampa ...

Curtis Joseph Curtis Shayne Joseph (né Munro; born April 29, 1967) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former professional player. Nicknamed "Cujo", Joseph was immediately recognizable on the ice for his masks featuring a snarling dog, drawing inspiration fro ...

Rod Brind'Amour Roderic Jean Brind'Amour (born August 9, 1970) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He is the head coach for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). Brind'Amour played 20 seasons in the National H ...

Brad Richards Bradley Glen Richards (born May 2, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. Richards was drafted in the third round, 64th overall, by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft and played for the Lightning, New York R ...

and

Vincent Lecavalier Vincent "Vinny" Lecavalier (born April 21, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who is currently a special advisor to hockey operations for the Montreal Canadiens. Lecavalier, played seventeen seasons in the National Hockey ...

. The

Hockey Saskatchewan Hockey Saskatchewan is the governing body of all ice hockey in Saskatchewan. Hockey Saskatchewan is a branch of Hockey Canada. Hockey Saskatchewan was established as the Saskatchewan Amateur Hockey Association in 1906, and was later known as th ...

Athol Murray Trophy The Athol Murray Trophy is a Canadian ice hockey series to determine the Saskatchewan Junior B championship and seed of the Keystone Cup - the Western Canada Junior "B" Hockey Crown. History Since the 1960s the tournament has been an important de ...

is named in his honour. Murray played a central role in the 1962 strike by Saskatchewan doctors opposing socialized medicine and inciting violence at anti-Medicare rallys on radio broadcasts, proclaiming “This thing may break into violence and bloodshed any day now, and God help us if it doesn’t.”.Brown, Lorne and Taylor, Doug. "The Birth of Medicare", ''Canadian Dimension'', Volume 46, Issue 4: July/August 2012
/ref> Murray was named a monsignor in 1968. He died on December 15, 1975 at the age of eighty-three."Athol Murray Fonds", Saskatchewan Council for Archives and Archivists
/ref>

Honours

* In 1968, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

. * In 1972, he was inducted as a hockey builder into the Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. * In 1998, he was posthumously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. * A street in Regina Saskatchewan (Athol Street) is named after him. * A historic plaque was installed at his family's Toronto home from 1905 - 1921, 445 Euclid Avenue. *

Athol Murray College of Notre Dame Athol Murray College of Notre Dame is a private, co-educational boarding high school located in Wilcox, Saskatchewan, Canada. It was founded by the Sisters of Charity of St. Louis in 1920 as St. Augustine school when they established Notre Dame ...

Wilcox, Saskatchewan Wilcox ( 2016 population: ) is a village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within the Rural Municipality of Bratt's Lake No. 129 and Census Division No. 6. It is approximately 41 kilometres (25 mi) south of the City of Regina. Wi ...

is named in his honour.

References

External links

*
Monsignor Athol Murray
at Canada's Sports Hall of Fame {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Athol 1892 births 1975 deaths 20th-century Canadian Roman Catholic priests Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Loyola College (Montreal) alumni Officers of the Order of Canada