Obituary of Denise M. Murray

Denise Murray died on July 1, 2016 in Binghamton, NY at the age of 76 following a quarter-century of a courageous and inspirational battle with cancer. Born in Ontario, Canada, Denise moved to Binghamton in 1968. Denise is survived and dearly missed by her daughter Francine Murray, of Brooklyn, NY, her son Sean Murray, of Corning, NY, and her son DJ Murray, Jr., his wife Tania and two precious grandchildren Mikayla and Grant Murray of Chicago, IL. She is also survived by her sisters Diane Provencher and Francine Lapointe, sisters-in-law Carole Lajoie, Barbara Kuklis, Carol Pellicciotti, and Eileen Murray and brothers-in-law Jean Lapointe, Albert Pellicciotti and Joseph Murray, Jr. Denise was preceded in death by her parents Adrien and Charlotte Provencher, husband Donald J. Murray, brothers André and Gilles Provencher and sister-in-law Marlyn (Farrell) Wilson. She loved and was loved by her numerous nieces and nephews and scores of friends, far too many to list, throughout the United States and Canada. Denise touched the lives of everyone she knew—and some she hardly knew—with her limitless generosity and vivacious spirit. Denise was educated at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec and SUNY Binghamton. In her professional life, she was a leader in the organization and delivery of health care. Her positions included Director of Nursing at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Associate Administrator of the Family Nurse Practitioner Program at SUNY Binghamton, President/CEO, NY-Penn Health Systems Agency and Vice President of Patient and Family Services for the Eastern Division of American Cancer Society. Denise changed the face of local health services by insisting on needed access, quality and affordability of patient care. Her expertise in systems transformation and visionary leadership significantly contributed to the expansion of services to cancer patients throughout New York State and beyond. Her influence and fingerprints are visible at all levels of the local health services system. Denise's passions were widespread: nature and wildlife, gardening in her backyard, entertaining friends and cooking in the kitchen, photography, skiing, knitting, travel with friends, vacations on Nantucket, whale watching and music, just to name a few. After she retired—although she never wanted to call it a retirement—she revived her childhood hobby of painting. Many of her friends and family are proud to have a "Denise original" hanging on their walls and nothing made her happier than sharing these gifts. In her later years she even found time to serve on the board for the Binghamton Philharmonic. With seemingly endless energy, perhaps her greatest gift was to be an advocate and inspiration for numerous cancer survivors. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the American Cancer Society, 13 Beech Street, Johnson City, NY 13790. A celebration of her life will be held at a date to be announced.