The Pilgrimage of Pat and Mary Murray
We are Catholic Worker lifers, Pat would always say and I do believe we are. It all started with Pat finding
the New York Catholic Worker newspaper at the local library when he was sixteen. Being already socially concerned it was just
what he needed for further inspiration. He read it faithfully from then on and introduced it to me as our friendship deepened
(we met in high school). When we married in 1948, we were committed to the ideas put forth by Dorothy Day and did our best
to live accordingly. We quickly had a large family (11 children) but it seemed we always had room for someone who needed a
helping hand. Living in Chillicothe, OH was a lonesome place spiritually - the New York CW newspaper became our lifeline and
spiritual advisor. Ammon Hennacy visited us several times which helped too. We kept in touch with other CW families but none
were nearby.
We dreamed of going back to the land which was Peter Maurin's ideal. Well in 1960 we moved to Resurrection
Farm in the rolling hills near Chillicothe. Young folks and families joined us at different times but somehow none
of us really knew how to establish a community, so after five years we moved on to communities that were already formed. We
stayed with several different communities for another ten years, mostly communities dedicated to working with retarded adults.
In 1976 this led us to Waukegan, IL where we established Anawim House and cared for retarded children. Just
one big house with our family, five handicapped children and volunteers to help. We always hoped to open an additional house
but it was not to be. At that time we were also involved with St. Francis House in Chicago. When we retired in 1986, our daughter
Mary Jo and her husband took over Anawim House.
After a six month retirement trip, we settled in Savannah, GA where Stella Maris CW was just getting started
- we worked with them for three years. We loved being with the folks there and being where it was warm but our children wished
for us to live closer, so we moved to the Akron, OH area. To stay warm in winter, we volunteered at various CW houses in warm
parts of the country.
In Akron we were a very active part of St. Bernard's parish. We talked Catholic Worker to friends and fellow
parishioners but it was not until 1998 that we found Aine Donovan and Sr. Catherine who were really interested in the idea.They
moved in with us and together we started we started fund raising and the house hunting and found the house at 838 Princeton
St. which we were able to purchase - it needed a lot of work but all that was provided by many generous people.
We opened the House of Peace in December 1998 and dubbed our first guests, the Christmas
family. Very lovingly the community which is now three houses and the Peter Maurin Center, renamed the Murray Peace
House in honor of Pat and our family. Sadly for all of us, Pat was called home in June of 2005.
I firmly believe without Pat's tremendous commitment to the Catholic Worker, the Akron CW community would
not have happened. Now it continues to flourish due to the efforts of the dedicated core group and all the other wonderful
folks who have helped through the years and those who are continuing to help now.
By Mary Murray
