Bangor host to president dies at 80 Carter visited home of Laura Murray

BANGOR – Over the years, Laura Murray welcomed many guests to her Maple Street home.

But of all her visitors, perhaps none was so memorable as then-President Jimmy Carter, who stayed at the Bangor native’s home for one night while visiting the city in 1978.

“[Carter’s] personality was much like my mother’s in that they could very easily warm up to people and make them feel at ease,” Murray’s youngest son, former state Sen. Robert “Buddy” Murray Jr., said of his mother, who died Sunday at age 80.

The conversations that Friday night and Saturday morning were mostly casual, ranging from the changes in the Sears catalog that year to the coal workers’ strike, which raised the possibility of the president invoking the Taft-Hartley Act, which restricted the activities of labor unions.

“Mainly, they talked about average, everyday topics that affected everybody,” said the Very Rev. Frank Murray, also a former state lawmaker.

Like his four siblings, Frank Murray returned home for the event, which prompted his mother and late father, Robert E. Murray, to make some practical decisions about sleeping arrangements.

“They were Solomon-like in their wisdom,” Frank Murray said of his parents, who decided that since there were not enough bedrooms for the president, his aide and all five Murray children, none of the kids could stay at the house that Friday night.

But after leaving when Carter went to bed, they all came back for an engaging breakfast the next morning. “It was an exciting opportunity for all of us,” said Robert Murray, who yielded his bedroom for the distinguished visitor.

Laura Murray, who was married to Robert for more than 50 years, was remembered by those closest to her as a supportive, working mother with an interest in politics and an ability to set people at ease.

“She brought an enthusiasm and genuineness and warmth that people were instantly attracted to and appreciated,” Robert Murray, 42, said of his mother’s many community endeavors.

Throughout her life, Murray was involved in several activities in her community and at St. John’s Catholic Church, where she was a lifelong member.

A funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. today at St. John’s.

She is survived by her five children and their families. They are Cynthia, her husband, Severin Beliveau, and their children, Emmett, Devin, Connor and Liam; Frank Murray; Kathi Murray; Winifred and her husband, Frank Higgins, and their children, Seamus, his wife, Kimberly, Keven, Darian and Meghan; Robert “Buddy” Murray, his wife, Maggie, and their children, Erin and Dillon; one great-granddaughter, Emma Catherine Higgins, and several nieces and nephews.