MADISON — A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated for Fr. Donald Joseph Murray on Tuesday, May 8, 2018, at 11 a.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 602 Everglade Dr., Madison.
Father Murray, a retired priest of the Diocese of Madison, died on Tuesday, May 1, 2018, at the age of 85 at home in Middleton, Wis.
Fr. Gary Krahenbuhl, pastor of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Parish, Portage, and St. Mary Help of Christians, Briggsville, will celebrate the Mass, with Msgr. Gerard Healy, pastor Emeritus, as homilist.
Visitation at St. Thomas Aquinas Church will be held on Tuesday, May 8, from 9 a.m. until the start of the Mass. Burial will take place at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Alsip, Ill., at 3:30 p.m. A funeral luncheon will take place in the St. Thomas Aquinas Church Hall immediately after the Mass.
Father Murray was born on May 10, 1932, in Chicago, Ill., and is predeceased by his parents, William and Frances (Manning) Murray, sister June (Wally) Heilman, brother William (Mary Anne) Murray, and nephew Joseph Heilman.
After attending Little Flower Grade School in Chicago, Ill., Father Murray continued his education at Edgewood Middle School and Edgewood High School in Madison, Wis.
He started his collegiate studies at St. Mary’s College, Winona, Minn.; studied philosophy at the Dominican House of Studies, River Forest, Ill., where he earned a Bachelor of Arts, and studied theology at St. Paul University, St. Paul, Minn.
He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop William P. O’Connor on May 27, 1961, at St. Raphael Cathedral, Madison.
Father Murray began serving in the Diocese of Madison as a parochial vicar of St. Jude Parish, Beloit; St. Raphael Cathedral Parish, Madison; St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, Beloit; and St. Maria Goretti Parish, Madison.
He was pastor of St. Olaf Parish, De Forest; Our Lady of Assumption Parish, Beloit; St. Barnabas Parish, Mazomanie, with the mission of St. John the Baptist Parish, Mill Creek; and St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, Madison, from which he retired in 2001.
During his years of service to the Diocese of Madison, Father Murray served as a member of the Priests’ Senate (Presbyteral Council); Priest Personnel Board; Diocesan Pastoral Council; Board of Conciliation & Arbitration; Clergy Spiritual Life; Diocesan Consultor (College of Consultors); and chaplain to the Serra Club. He also taught at Beloit Catholic High School, where he was assistant to the principal and a spiritual director.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes, Development Office, 320 County Rd. K, Fond du Lac, WI 54937.