We were saddened to learn this week of the passing of Dr. Ray Murphy, a former Wellesley resident who may have actually been my introduction to this town before we moved here.
As a longtime member of the Greater Framingham Running Club, I fondly recall visiting the wonderful home of Raymond “Ray” Leo Harrington Murphy, Jr., and his wife Peggy in the Cliff Estates area, though maybe not so fondly recall running up and down Cliff Road. The Murphys would always host one of the club’s monthly breakfast-and-run meetings, often around the year-end holidays if I remember correctly.
Ray, who wrote a book about running called “If You Felt Like I Did, You’d Start Running,” had scaled back his roadwork when I knew him, though was always game to talk about the science of the sport. He was more focused at that time on swimming, where he competed and medaled in Senior Olympics events.
As described in his formal obituary, Ray was an accomplished medical professional, veteran (“proudly served on the USS Forrestal as part of the
commissioning crew responsible for patrolling the Mediterranean Sea”) and enthusiastic family man. He was Chief of Pulmonary Medicine at both the Faulkner and Shattuck Hospitals, and he even ” invented a stethoscope that captured and analyzed lung sounds electronically to help limit the invasive nature of some hospital monitoring systems and avoid unnecessary surgeries to improve outcomes.”
Visitation will be Thursday, March 7 from 4-6 PM at the Henry J.Burke & Sons Funeral Home, 56 Washington St., Wellesley Hills, MA. A Mass will be held on Friday, March 8, at 10 AM at St. John the Evangelist Church, 9 Glen Rd, Wellesley Hills, MA.
Let the Wellesley community know of your remembrances at theswellesleyreport@gmail.com
