We are saddened to hear of the passing of Villanova English alumnus Jim Murray '60, who passed away on Monday morning at the age of 87. As noted in his obituary in the New York Times, Murray "was the general manager of the Philadelphia Eagles when the team reached the Super Bowl in 1981, and also helped found the first Ronald McDonald House to aid the families of seriously ill children" in Philadelphia in the 1970s.
Per the Eagles' website, "Murray became the Eagles' general manager in 1974 and helped guide the team to the NFC Championship in the 1980 season as Philadelphia made its first-ever Super Bowl appearance against the Raiders in Super Bowl XV." Murray also helped launch the Eagles Fly for Leukemia initiative.
Murray studied, played, and later worked at Villanova. Per the New York Times, "At Villanova University, where he graduated in 1960 with a bachelor’s degree in English, he served as manager of the baseball team... He returned to Philadelphia to become sports information director at Villanova in 1966."
Although the Ronald McDonald House started with one location in Philadelphia, it now offers 1,000 Programs in 62 countries. The Philadelphia house celebrated its 50th Anniversary last year.
You can read more about Jim Murray here.
