The Needham Free Public Library and seven area nonprofits recently learned they were a half million dollars richer due to the kindness of a man they don’t appear to have ever met.
His name was Robert Murray, and he was of the Greatest Generation, having enlisted in the Army Air Force right out of Belmont High in 1944.
He would serve two years and go on to earn a degree in industrial engineering, work at several manufacturers and come to hold several patents. He appears to have never married and eventually settled in Needham, buying the 1,500-square-foot garrison colonial at 67 Berkshire Road in 1987, according to town property records.
The home was sold in late 2022, and Murray spent his final days at North Hill before passing away this past Sept. 9 at the age of 99 with no known relatives.
“He was just a nice guy,” said David Cox, Murray’s attorney. “Lived to 99 years old and was always a gentleman.”
Cox and his father and law partner, Gil Cox, handled the arrangements with Eaton Funeral Home. A graveside service was held in Newburyport, the town of Murray’s birth, and concluded with military honors.
“In lieu of flowers,” the notice read, “please make a donation in his name to a charity of your choice.”
And that was that — until the half-million dollar bequests started arriving at the charities of Mr. Murray’s choice.
There were eight major beneficiaries in total, four in Needham, each of which received donations of $541,000 from Murray’s estate. In addition to the library, local beneficiaries were Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Needham, the Charles River Center and St. Joseph’s Church. Four regional charities received equally large bequests.
“Unfortunately, I never met Mr. Murray,” said library director Rob MacLean. “The first time I knew of him as a patron and a donor to the library and his generosity was when we received the notice from his estate.”
Given MacLean is only in his third year at the library, that’s not a surprise. But one of his predecessors, Ann McFate, whose 65-year tenure started while she was in high school, also had no recollections of Robert Murray — although his name is etched in the glass balustrade around the library’s second-floor staircase listing donors of $150 or more to a Library Foundation of Needham’s anniversary fundraiser.
Hillary Ryan, the Charles River Center’s VP of Development, was likewise caught off guard. She noted the CRC has frequent interactions with its neighbors at North Hill, but she had yet to connect the dots on any specific interaction with Robert Murray.
The Rev. Bryan Parrish, pastor of St. Joseph’s, was out of town and could not be reached. But Cox noted Murray had originally designated St. Bartholomew’s Church as the recipient before St. Bart’s was closed in 2023 and its parishioners directed to St. Joe’s.
Kristina Murray of BID-Needham’s media relations team said Mr. Murray was known to them only as a patient.
“He lived a long time, and he invested well,” David Cox said.
“Bob took care of a lot of people,” he added, noting that he was a talented handyman who was generous with his skills. Cox theorized that Murray may have been influenced to donate to institutions that were meaningful to people who were meaningful to him.
“I think he basically used some of those bequests in his final bequest. He donated everything to charity and a couple of friends who helped him out over the years.”
Donations to the town
Both the Charles River Center and BID-Needham are in the midst of capital campaigns, and St. Joe’s conducts ongoing fundraising for both the parish as a whole and its elementary and middle schools.
The town, while far from a frequent flier when it comes to philanthropic outreach, does have mechanisms in place to accept donations via the elected Commissioners of Trust Funds. The three-member board has oversight of approximately 100 trusts with a total value of more than $11 million built up over the years from private donations.
As of 2024, 65% of those assets were school related, with most earmarked for scholarships for graduating high school seniors. The library, which has its own foundation, accounts for an estimated 16% of the assets.
MacLean said the library has no specific plans for the windfall but also no shortage of needs. It just completed construction in April of a new Teen Room, the first fruits of a four-phased capital plan intended also to address needs in the Children’s department, the Rosemary Street entrance and multipurpose room, and the Highland Avenue entrance and reference area.
The town’s overall capital plan, however, is very much in flux pending what transpires with the Pollard Middle School project and a possible debt exclusion override vote. If the override passes, the town will take on more than a quarter-billion dollars in debt, limiting its capacity to address other capital needs.
The Murray $541,000 donation will reside in the library’s Permanent Donation Fund, which is outside of the town’s annual budget. It could be appropriated via a vote of the Library Board of Trustees and not require action by the Commissioners of Trust Funds.
“We would be quite happy if this inspires a whole generation of people to direct their charitable dollars to Needham-based organizations,” MacLean said of the impact of the unexpected funding infusion, which will be held in trust and need not be used by any deadline.
“We’ve started to think beyond phases one, two, three and four about some great things we could do that are needed for our patrons,” he said.
{Editor’s note: This article was updated to clarify how the funds could be appropriated after town officials contacted the Observer to correct information they had previously provided.}
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