1

Father Athol Murray

Yet in the midst of a dirth of noteworthy stories, I failed to recognize the first quiet murmurings of an event which became the biggest story of all - one that is now known back and forth and up and down the North American continent.

It was the shaping up of one of the most colorful bits of Saskatchewan history - the establishment of Notre Dame College at Wilcox (10 miles from Rouleau), by Father Athol Murray.

The College was the outcome of Father Murray's deep interest in underprivileged boys, first manifest while he was serving as Chancellor for Archbishop Mathieu of Regina, when he founded an athletic club. ...

The thought of providing still higher education for them grew in Father Murray's mind. But to do that he would need a college. ...

... a college should be built of brick and stone, half hidden by trees and approached by curving avenues bordered with stately elms.

Only a few months ago Monseigneur Athol Murray wrote to me saying, "Andy, we now have trees." He had remembered what I had forgotten.

Now Notre Dame has more than trees. (Excerpt from Paper, Pen and Ink by Andrew King, Pg 105-106)

2

Grandson Doug King talks about Father Athol Murray of Notre Dame.
23 December 2003

3

Doug King

Grandpa's best friend there, or one of his great friends be Father Athol Murray at the Notre Dame College.

Campbell King

Grandpa was there when Father Murray opened the college and grandpa always chided him a bit because he always siad he had a college there and grandpa said well you're not going tohave a college until the streets are lined with trees and then you can call it a college.

Many many years later when grandfather was in Texas, San Pedro, he got a call from Father Murray.

Father Murray said, "We're finally a college. We got our trees all the way down there."

But grandpa and Father Murray were very great friends and very very different people - Father Murray with his unque language and the way he dealt with people and grandpa was very much the opposite, but they got along very very well.

grandpa was asked to do a book about fahter murray and he did that
what happened he came from nebraska and spend three or four days with Father murray just talking about his life and his work and everything else and then he'd go back to nebraska where he was living at the time and write up the history or the conversations they had

eventually he had a manuscript for what became the hounds of notre dame
as mentioned, grandpa was not one to use bad language or colorful language so they didn't quite feel that his version was really reflecting father murray so one of his students father murrays students from calgary did the color commentarty and that book was put out and the movie was made the hounds of notre dame

4

Grandson Doug King talks about Father Athol Murray paying his bill with coal.
23 December 2003

5

I remember grandpa telling one time most likely in the late 30's early 40's when times were tough on the prairies, Athol Murray needed printing done and grandpa of course would do the printing but there was never any money to pay the printing bill - I shouldn't say never.

This one particular time in winter there was no money to pay the printing bill and he paid grandpa off in coal because there was somebody in the church that had coal connections so grandpa got a truckload of coal to pay the printing bill from Athol Murray

Doug King