Music, Bunny love of Murray’s life
Alex Murray was born in 1932 and raised in Winnipeg, Man. By the age of 10, his parents and school teachers discovered that he had a beautiful soprano voice. His parents sent him for voice training lessons. As he matured, his voice changed from a soprano to a baritone voice.
Alex had a passion for singing at a very young age and he has been singing and performing ever since. He sang solos, took roles in operettas and oratories such as Handle’s Messiah, Haydn’s The Creation and Mendelssohn’s Elijah.
Alex said, “I enjoyed singing and entertaining from the start but I never considered turning my talent into a profession. Instead, I wanted a good steady job with a steady income that I could count on so that I could support my family.”
The Murray family left Manitoba in 1950 and settled in Victoria. Alex went to work for the CNR in a clerical position and nearly two years later he took a transfer and moved to Calgary where he met and married Betty-Marie (Bunny) Heath.
Alex reflected back and said, “Bunny was an accomplished ballet instructor, schooled at the Royal Academy of Dance ballet in Banff, Alta. and a member of the Banff School of Fine Arts.
“It didn’t take long and I was in love with her. She was a great dancer and I was a young man with a good voice. We had so much in common and we fell 100 per cent mutually in love. We got married in Calgary in 1954 and soon we started our family.
“Bunny got her nickname from her father who used to gently tweak her tiny nose as a child and then she would in turn wiggle her nose back at him like a bunny. This was always a special tease between the two of them.”
Alex was transferred to Richmond and worked out of North Vancouver.
In 1959, he went to work at Columbia Cellulose in their Vancouver office as their transportation manager. It was his job to supervise and negotiate the export of their wood pulp out of Prince Rupert to their overseas markets.
His take home pay was now much better so they bought a house in Richmond where they intended to stay.
“Eventually Northwood Pulp offered me a job working in Vancouver as their distribution manager for their pulp. The only problem was that the pulp mill in Prince George was still under construction and they were not ready to produce pulp. They wanted to retain me until they started production and to make a long story short, we sold our home and moved to Prince George in 1979.
“It turned out to be a great move. I retired from Northwood Pulp in 1992.”
As soon as they settled in Prince George, Alex formed the Alex Murray Singers (1981-1988). The choir was for women only and consisted of a three-part harmony. Their accomplishments were many; the choir sang Broadway hits, some semi-classical music, sang to the shut-ins all over the city, held annual concerts and they were a part of the city’s popular Carol Fest.
Over time, Bunny became known as Mrs. M and her passion was the Performers North Assistance Fund. This fund supplied financial support to young performers who did not have the resources to pursue performing arts training.
Bunny believed that the funding was not to be necessarily based on talent but instead; it was to be based on passion and desire followed by talent for young people who would now be able to have a chance to develop their abilities.
Alex and Bunny had two children; Randy (Rosemary) and Judy (Bill) Russell who in turn gave them five grandsons; Andrew, Matthew, Jonathon, Christopher and Nolan and six great grandchildren.
Alex concluded by saying, “I am so proud to be the patriarch of the talented Murray-Russell family.
“Bunny worked from home and raised our children. She was a superb teacher and an incredible stage and acting director. Between the two of us, we started producing musicals in 1979. We got involved with the Prince George Symphony Orchestra and sang in the HMS Pinafore and Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, to name a few. Together we prepared the music for the chorus.
“Bunny and our daughter Judy built an incredible dance school here in Prince George. As time went by, the studio successfully evolved into Enchainment Productions Inc. on Opie Crescent.
“I want to take this opportunity to say that Bunny, Judy, Bill, the entire Russell family and I successfully produced over 47 productions – both musicals and plays – since 1979. We also did 16 runs of the fantastic Prince George seasonal favourite The Nutcracker accompanied by the Prince George Symphony Orchestra.
“I am now semi-retired but the rest of the family is still going strong.
“Bunny was the love of my life. Sadly, she passed away in 2011 after a long battle with cancer.”