Murley, W. Ray
Dr. W. Ray Murley, 90, of Blacksburg, passed away January 1, 2009. Born May 8, 1918, in Vinson, Okla., he was the 10th child of Walter R. and Rebecca Randall Murley.
Surviving are his wife, Jane Janey Murley; his three children, Jerry R. Murley, of Christiansburg, Virginia, Rebecca and son-in-law, Bradley Marsh, of Golden, Colo., and Sue and son-in-law, Ron Kreisa, of Paint Bank, Va. He was preceded in death by his first wife of 61 years, Ruby M. Murley.
He was a member of the Blacksburg Baptist Church and active in the Fidelis Class for many years. After completing an Associate Degree from Cameron Junior College, Lawton, Okla., he served as a naval hospital corpsman, assigned to the United States Marine Corp., during World War II, rising to the rank of Chief Petty Officer. He earned his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from Iowa State College (now University), in Dairy Husbandry/Nutrition. Upon graduation, he accepted a position in teaching and research at North Carolina State University, where from 1951 to 1965 he was an advisor to 75 undergraduate students and directed five M.S. candidates.
He coached 14 dairy-cattle judging teams, that often obtained top honors at regional and national contests. In 1965, he accepted a position at Virginia Tech as Professor and Project Leader of the Dairy Science Extension program. He revitalized this program by initiating a team approach that involved numerous extension professionals, faculty from applicable university departments, dairy organizations, and state and local dairy professionals. One of Dr. Murley’s most significant contributions to dairy science was his pioneer work in dairy nutrition. He was a prime mover in Virginia’s early adoption of more nutritionally appropriate and profitable dairy feeding programs.
In a time when the personal computer, and even the handheld calculator, were in their infancy, Dr. Murley spearheaded the development of computer programs that provided printouts to dairymen regarding the quantity of individual feedstuffs necessary for their herds to maximize milk production. This concept led to significant increases in milk production throughout the United States and is still in use today. During his tenure at Virginia Tech, Dr. Murley was a welcomed visitor on the dairy farms in Virginia as a part of his Extension Service work. He worked with dairymen to improve their operations, breeding and milk production and gained great respect throughout the state as a result of his professional knowledge and technical help. But he was also welcomed because of his ready smile, charm and personal warmth. He distributed his knowledge in over 100 articles and abstracts in scientific journals and trade publications, as well as extension bulletins, circulars and leaflets.
Dr. Murley served as consultant and symposium leader for missions to other countries, including Mexico, Canada, Venezuela, the Virgin Islands and South Korea. Upon retirement from Virginia Tech in 1980, he started his own consulting service and continued serving the dairy industry in Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Tennessee and West Virginia until 1994. Dr. Murley was the recipient of many awards and recognitions for his work with the dairy industry, including the DeLaval Dairy Extension Award from the American Dairy Science Association and the Award of Honor from the Southern Branch of A.D.S.A. The Virginia State Dairymen’s Association established in his name the “Distinguished Dairyman Award in Virginia” in 1982. Given annually to an outstanding dairyman in the state, the award has now had more than 25 recipients. At the same time, an undergraduate scholarship to Virginia Tech was established in his name by his colleagues at Virginia Tech and state dairymen. Over 40 students have received the W. Ray and Ruby Murley Scholarship to study dairy science at Virginia Tech. He received the Outstanding Dairy Extension Specialist Award from Virginia Tech and the Distinguished Service Award from the Virginia Feed Association. He was an Honorary Life Member of the Virginia State Dairymen’s Association and a charter and life member of the National Dairy Shrine Club. He was recognized for distinguished service to the North Carolina Chapter of Farmhouse. He received the extension Award of Merit from Gamma Sigma Delta.
In 2003, the Virginia Tech Dairy Club dedicated its annual publication, the Milky Way , to Dr. and Mrs. (Ruby) Murley. In 2004, he was the honored guest at a reunion held in Greensboro, N.C. by dairy judging team members he had coached between 1951-1965 at North Carolina State University. A significant outcome of this event was the establishment by these team members of the W. Ray Murley Dairy Judging Team Endowment to support program expenditures for current and future dairy judging team members, especially in regard to travel to regional and national events. In addition to the overall endowment funded by the team members, two team members, G. K. Davis and Maynard Self, and their wives, endowed two separate scholarships in their names and Dr. Murley’s.
Dr. Murley belonged to Gamma Sigma Delta where he served as President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer, Alpha Zeta (Secretary), Sigma Xi (Secretary), and Epsilon Sigma Phi. He was an active participant at the Blacksburg Senior Center where he served on the Advisory Board for many years, was instrumental in program development and the leader of several programs. In 2002, he received the Blacksburg Senior Center Volunteer of the Year Award. He was a member of the Christiansburg-Blacksburg Rotary Club for 33 years and was a multiple Paul Harris Fellow. He served as Vice President and President of the Blacksburg Chapter of AARP, was on the Board of Directors and served as President of the New Dimension, and was a member of the Torch Club serving as its treasurer for a number of years. Additionally, he was a director of the Warm Hearth Development Board for three years. While living at Warm Hearth, he served a term as President of the Founders Forest community group of residents.
Ray will be remembered by many as a professor, mentor, coach, advisor and role model. He was a wonderful father and husband, sharing his patience, wisdom and love. In his personal and social life, as in his professional life, Ray exhibited great charm and personal warmth always ready with a smile and the offer of a firm handshake. He made all whom he met feel like a friend. He made many lasting friendships among Virginia dairymen and they have since supported him throughout his illnesses of the past four years with cards, notes and calls. He will be fondly remembered for the many good times with family and friends at the Claytor Lake Cottage, where he and Ruby frequently held gatherings for the Dairy Science faculty, students and friends. He was a positive influence on many people and the good that he has done was great. He will be greatly missed by colleagues, friends and family.
The family wishes to express its deepest gratitude to all staff members of Medi Home Health and Hospice who have faithfully attended to the needs of Ray and his wife, Jane, throughout the past year. We could not have asked for more devoted and compassionate support. We also want to thank the nursing assistants from Human Touch Home Health for their loving care of Ray, especially Wanda Pettus, Brenda Blankenship, Lisa Carrington and Rose Budd.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the W. Ray and Ruby Murley Scholarship, c/o Virginia State Dairymen’s Association, P.O. Box 29, Bridgewater, Va. 22812, the W. Ray Murley Dairy Judging Team Endowment or to the Blacksburg Baptist Church.
The family will receive visitors from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday, January 4, 2009, at McCoy Funeral Home, 150 Country Club Dr., Blacksburg. Service