Robert Francis (Bob) Murray died peacefully on May 26, 2021. He was born July 19, 1930 in Lansing, Michigan to Richard John and Agnes Francis Murray, the fifth child of six. He grew up in Lansing and Albion, MI, and graduated from St. Mary's High School in Lansing and Michigan State University where he earned a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering.

He first met Patricia Mae Pohl, the love of his life, in high school, and he always asked her to dance at the school dances. They met again in Fort Lauderdale on New Year's Day of 1953, when she came down to celebrate after graduating nursing school and he was "bumming around." He popped the question there during the four months they spent there. They married on August 22, 1953 in Lansing.

Bob spent nearly two years in the US Army, first in 1949 and again after being recalled and deployed to Japan in late 1950. In January 1955, married with one child (daughter Karen), he re-entered MSU and he and Pat both worked through the college years. Upon graduating, he got a job at The Boeing Company in Seattle in June 1959 working on the Minuteman ballistic missile program. With $200 and a new car, they made their way across country, now with four kids (Karen, Linda, Mike and Janet) and a dog (Spunky). A fifth child (Dan) was born in Seattle and in October 1961 they moved to Santa Maria, California, where he worked with Boeing on Minuteman at Vandenberg AFB. In early 1963, they moved to Boeing's Huntsville AL site to work on the ground equipment and full-scale mockup for the first stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle for the Apollo program. In November 1964, he left Boeing and joined NASA at Langley Research Center in Hampton VA, again supporting Apollo. He and Pat bought a home in Newport News where they finished raising their five children and another dog (Smokey).

He spent six years on the Viking project to Mars, including the launches during the Summer of 1975, leading system integration. After Viking he worked on NASA's Terminal Configured Vehicle, a modified Boeing 737, developing advanced digital flight deck system concepts; much of this work translated into Boeing's new 757 and 767 commercial jets in early '80's. Bob's career culminated with four years at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he served as Program Manager of the Galileo program to Jupiter and the Ulysses program studying the Sun from outside of the Solar System's orbital plane. Each of those probes was launched on the Space Shuttle, in 1989 and 1990, respectively, and he shared those events with members of his family including his sister Mary and her children.

Bob loved playing sports his whole life. He played baseball and basketball in High School and took up tennis later in life around the age of 30. With a dominating serve and volley game and a deft touch, he competed at high levels of tennis for decades, including participating in the National Championships in the 70-and-older doubles in 2005 and 2009. He enjoyed playing with friends at the neighborhood courts in Glendale, at NASA Langley and at the beloved Hilton Tennis Club in Newport News. This love for tennis and high level of excellence on the court was shared by Pat, and they taught all their kids to play.

Bob will be remembered fondly by family and friends. Though he lost both of his parents by the age of 13, he and Pat raised a strong and loving family, a legacy of which he was extremely proud.

He was predeceased by his parents, brothers Richard, Ernie, Jack and 16-month-old Billy, and his younger sister Mary ("Merm") McKillop; his grandson Jeffery and son-in-law Glen. He will be remembered and missed by his sons and daughters and their families: Karen Waldfogel, Linda Slagle and husband Peter, Mike, Janet Smith, and Dan and wife Mary; eleven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren; and many nieces, nephews, and friends.

A funeral mass will be held Tuesday June 1st at 11am at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church in Newport News, with reception following.