Finishing for Kelly

This is Dr. Kelly Murray, one of my favorite professors in the Pastoral Counseling department at Loyola University, MD. She died on June 26, 2009 when a sudden summer storm caused a tree to fall on the minivan she was driving. Her 7 year-old daughter Sloane died as well. Kelly left behind a husband, five other daughters, and an amazing personal and professional legacy.

I met Kelly for the first time on the first day of my first class at Loyola, Helping Relationship, in Fall 2007. Kelly walked into the room and I was instantly impressed by her energy, confidence, humor, and great style. When she told us about her professional background, I was even more impressed. At that point, Kelly was only in her late 30's and she had already taught at the Naval Academy and received tenure at Loyola. She was also maintaining a private practice, writing books, and working as a consultant for groups that ranged from the White House crisis unit to Lifetime TV. When Kelly mentioned that she had a husband and 5 (at that time) daughters under the age of 12, I went from impressed to amazed. I clearly remember thinking "I don't know what this woman can teach me about counseling, but she can certainly teach me something about life."

I was lucky enough to have Kelly twice that year, moving from Helping Relationship in the Fall to Psychopathology in the Spring. I quickly learned that Kelly had a lot to teach me about counseling and about life. Not only could Kelly juggle being a professional, a wife, and a mother, she could also juggle different roles as a teacher and a therapist. She was tough, but fair. Serious, but fun. Innovative, but grounded in traditional practices. Exceptional, but always down to earth.

Kelly had a joy and an enthusiasm that could not be contained. At the beginning of the Spring semester, she announced that she was pregnant with her 6th child. She and her husband had decided not to learn the baby's sex, but Kelly was always confident that baby #6 would be a girl. As she explained it, "That's what my husband and I do. We have girls." I imagine that most people would be a bit daunted by the thought of adding another member to a family of 7, but Kelly never seemed anything other than thrilled about it. She often shared stories of her girls in class, which made me realize that she had so many kids because she simply loved being a mom. She loved being a mom, she loved being a wife, she loved being a therapist, and she loved being a teacher. Kelly was able to be excellent in everything she did because she only did things that she loved.

As if Kelly didn't have enough to occupy her time, she was also an avid runner. She ran on her own and she also incorporated running into some of her counseling work. I learned at one of Kelly's memorial services that she had planned to run a marathon, but had to stop training when she got pregnant with her youngest daughter. So, in honor of Kelly, one of my PC classmates and I are attempting to finish her marathon for her. On October 31, Katie Cashin and I will run the Marine Corps Marathon. Katie and I are both first-time marathoners and we are hoping to use our training to raise money for the Kelly Murray Scholarship Fund, which will support doctoral students at Loyola. We hope you will follow along as we train and help in any way you are able!

More to come on how to support our efforts.