Brother Murray

My older brother Murray passed away last week. Murray was 76 years old and during all those years - other than the years he lived at home before he joined the RCMP - we met very few times. He lived a full life and had many experiences that few of us know about.

As a young boy growing up in Sydney Mines, NS he was a typical youngster taking part in all the usual activities which presented themselves. Sports were on his schedule and he played a fair game of hockey and baseball. One activity which took much of his spare time was fishing and he could cast a dry fly just as well as Dad. He knew the names of the flys and at Trout Brook he would use a black knat. This fly was so small but used properly it was effective. Dad tied some of these flys and Murray would have done the same but he had other matters to attend to.

Murray joined the RCMP as a 18 year old and was so proud of his uniform and kit. He looked like the picture boy for the force with his clean cut 6 foot frame and perfect posture. For the next number of years he worked in law enforcement in various capacities. He once was the chief of police in Sioux Lookout. While there he used his learned skills working with a large aboriginal population. He loved his work.

Murray married several times and fathered a number of children. He was particularly proud of his last two daughters and spoke of them in glowing terms in every phone call. I personally lost contact with Murray for a number of years but rekindled my relationship with him about twelve years ago. This came about as I was travelling through Creston and stopped in several times for short visits. All the years in between, Murray tried his hand at business and had a popular country store called Charlie Brown's Country Store at The Mira. Here he made the best pizzas and people would come from miles around to experience the speciality.

Once our relationship was reunited we phoned on a regular basis. It was during these hour-long conversations I discovered the brother I missed. Murray would often tell me in great detail about his experiences, and there were many. My sister Glenda hooked up with Murray about seven years ago and became close phone friends talking and sharing many experiences. Their friendship was very good for both of them and they lived life through their mutual need of a friend to share. Sometimes they spoke more than once a day.

Murray was ill during his last years and accepted his role by fighting the pain he suffered and concentrated on enjoying life through the TV and the phone. He did get around Creston on his scooter and knew many folks along the way. Murray and Glenda watched hockey together and interacted like brother and sister should. The only difference was, they were 2500 miles apart.
As Murray passed on I finally knew him and only wished that that all his family and friends could have shared those final years with him.