Copiague literacy teacher Ann Murray dies

Ann M. Murray of Massapequa Park, a veteran Copiague teacher who considered a firm grasp of reading the building block of academic success, died of melanoma at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan last month. She was 82.

"She believed that a child's success in reading was key to success in all other areas of learning," said son Brian Murray of Massapequa Park.

While working for Copiague Public Schools, where she taught and served as an administrator, she helped start several innovative programs, including the Reading English Rotation, Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading and Growing Healthy programs.

Murray once hosted former first lady Barbara Bush during a visit to the Nassau Reading Council's Books for Babies program, which encourages teenage mothers to read to their children from a very early age.

Born in Flatbush, Brooklyn, Murray graduated from St. Francis Xavier Academy in Park Slope in 1947 and earned a bachelor's degree in 1951 from Notre Dame College in Staten Island, now St. John's University's Staten Island campus. She finished a master's program at Teachers College, Columbia University.

She taught in New York public schools for many years and became an assistant principal.

In 1960, she married Edward G. Murray, an insurance claims adjuster, and the couple moved to Massapequa Park in 1964.

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Ann Murray joined the Copiague district in 1967 as a remedial reading teacher at Deauville Gardens Elementary School.

She spent more than two decades in Copiague, where she helped integrate reading programs and went on to become director of reading and elementary language arts.

She retired in June 1991, and became an adjunct professor of literacy studies at Hofstra University. She also supervised student teachers at SUNY Old Westbury.

Murray belonged to the New York State Association for Comprehensive Education, Nassau Reading Council, New York State Reading Association and International Reading Association. She was inducted into Phi Delta Kappa, a professional society for educators, and Delta Kappa Gamma, an international honorary society of women educators.

Brian Murray said she was a devoted grandmother, who helped raise both his and his brother's children when both of her sons' wives died.

Murray is also survived by her other son, Brendan Murray of Patchogue, and seven grandchildren ranging in age from 12 to 22. Edward Murray died in 1991.

A funeral Mass was held Jan. 3 at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church. Burial was at Calverton National Cemetery.