Kearney, Neb. - The Nebraska-Kearney family is mourning the loss of Guy Murray, former baseball coach and UNK Athletic Hall of Fame Member, who passed away Saturday morning, May 29th, in Kearney.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, June 4th, at First United Methodist Church (4500 Linden Drive) in Kearney. Visitation will be from 4-7:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 3rd, at Horner, Lieske, McBride & Kuhl (2421 Avenue A) in Kearney. 

Murray, 69, is survived by his wife Sheryl and sons Bill and Tony, brothers Dan, Tom, Larry and Jack and granddaughters Madeline and Ella.

A Nebraska native and Benedict H.S. graduate, Murray helped put then-Kearney State on the baseball map as his program was an NAIA powerhouse throughout the 1970's and 1980's. Leading the Lopers from 1972-2001, his teams often faced, and beat, many Division I schools.

The graduate of Eastern Montana College (now Montana State-Billings) was named District Coach of the Year 11 times as his Loper teams picked up 10 District titles.

The 1981 Kearney State-team still holds many school records, including ones for victories (37), batting average (.343) and runs scored (554) in a season.

Winning 614 games, by far the most in school history, Murray picked up a slew of honors and awards throughout his career, including induction into the ABCA (American Baseball Coaches Association) Hall of Fame and receiving the U.S. Baseball Federation Service Award.

Many of his players would continue on in baseball with Frank Anderson (Oklahoma State) and Mike Keehn (North Alabama) currently serving as collegiate head coaches. Locally, Brad Archer has made Kearney Post 52 junior a state powerhouse. Finally, Tony played at UNK and served as Lopers head coach as well.

Murray also worked with the football team during his coaching tenure and was a teacher in the Health & Physical Education Department.

Prior to coming to Kearney, he was head baseball coach at Palo Verde High School (Calif.) and Benedictine College (Ill).