The Reverend John W. “Jack” Murray, lll, 85, of Jacksonville, Florida, died on March 27, 2026, at Baptist Hospital in downtown Jacksonville from complications of pneumonia. He was born June 30, 1940, in Charleston, South Carolina, to Elizabeth Schirmer Murray and John W. Murray, Jr. When driving around Charleston, he frequently enjoyed pointing to the window of the room in Roper Hospital where he was born.

After his father’s military service during World War II ended, the family moved back to Charleston from Neah Bay, Washington, and Jack attended Charleston’s public schools. In the third grade, he met David Redd, who became a friend for life. They both studied music, particularly the organ, with Vernon Weston, then conductor of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. As teenagers at a time when 13-year-olds could drive during the day, both became directors of local adult choirs. Practice had to end before dark!

Jack graduated from Rivers High School, and after a Grace Episcopal Church parishioner offered him a full scholarship to Juilliard, he had to decide whether to pursue a career in music or follow his father as a physician. He entered Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, in 1959, but after completing 3 years of pre-med studies, he decided medicine was not for him and returned home to Charleston. In 1964 he graduated from the College of Charleston where he had met his future wife, Sara Ann Lofton. During this time, he felt called to the Episcopal ministry and entered Virginia Theological Seminary from which he graduated in 1967. His musical training helped finance his education as he was organist and choir director for several Washington, D.C., churches.

From 1967-2001, Jack served 4 parishes: Christ Church, Denmark, South Carolina; St. John’s and St. Bartholomew’s in Atlanta, Georgia; and finally Holy Trinity in Pensacola, Florida. These were tumultuous years both in our country and in the Episcopal Church, and Jack did not shy away from the issues. He was an involved activist, first and foremost for civil rights and equal rights. He advocated also for the homeless, opening the first shelter in Atlanta for unhoused families at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, and for gay rights and social justice. From the early 1970s Jack had already been implementing Episcopal Bishop Bob Hirschfeld's recent charge to all clergy of his New Hampshire diocese "to stand between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable.” A parishioner recently remarked, “Jack was a leader as well as a priest; he changed the temperature of the room when he walked in!”

After retiring from the active ministry in 2001, he and his wife moved back to his hometown Charleston where he began a second career as an innkeeper, owning and operating Fantasia Bed and Breakfast for a decade. Jack’s sense of humor was such a fundamental part of who he was. He loved nothing better than regaling friends and inn guests with stories of Charleson in particular and life in general. He had come full circle from his childhood and especially enjoyed re-connecting with members of his home parish, Grace Episcopal Church.

The Murrays retired for a second time and moved to Jacksonville, Florida, in 2013. During the last decade of their mutual retirement, they discovered that they had been through better and worse, sickness and health, richer and poorer, hell and high water. What made these years in Jacksonville wonderful was time spent with daughter Caroline, son-in-law Kris, and the grandchildren, Lars and Elleann. Additionally, it was a delight to discover a whole new community of interesting and supportive friends.

Jack is survived by his wife of 57 years, Sara Ann Lofton Murray, son John W. Murray, IV (wife Nathania) and two grandchildren, Isabella Rose and John W. Murray, V; daughter Caroline Murray Thoreson (husband Kris) and two grandchildren, Lars and Elleann; a sister, Gail Murray of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and daughter Elizabeth Miller (husband Seth) and sons Samuel Schirmer Miller and Matthew Dahl Miller; Paul DeHue (wife Julia) and baby Josephine Grace; and sister-in-law Mary Carol Murray and her sons Dennis Joseph Murray and daughter Mary Lee Eule, son Bentley Eule, daughter Mabeline Eule, and son Austin Baker; John Charles Murray (wife Louise Rudisill) son Logan Abel Murray; William Allyn Murray and daughters Carolina, Aurora and Stella; and Devlin McNeil Murray, deceased, in Charleston, South Carolina. Special thanks to John Charles Murray for his dedication to his uncle.

Funeral services were held at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Jacksonville, Florida on April 11, 2026. A second service will be at 11:00 am at St. James-Santee Episcopal Church in McClellanville, South Carolina on Thursday, April 16, 2026, followed by inurnment in McClellanville Methodist Church Cemetery, 820 Old Cemetery Road, McClellanville, SC, directed by the Maryville Chapel of Mayer-Ethridge Funeral Home, 843-546-4184.

Those wishing to honor Jack are invited to make a memorial gift to St John’s Cathedral, 256 E.Church St., Jacksonville, Florida, 32202; St. James-Santee Episcopal Church, P.O.Box 123, McClellanville, South Carolina, 29458; Grace Episcopal Cathedral, 98 Wentworth St., Charleston, South Carolina, or to the Virginia Theological Seminary, 3737 Seminary Road Alexandria, Virginia 22304.

“So every day

I am surrounded by the

beautiful crying forth

of the ideas of God,

One of which was you.”

Mary Oliver from Red Bird