The Lord's hand keeps couple

Photo courtesy of Merci Murray

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William and Merci Murray will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary Feb. 27, at Saint Patrick Parish with their eight children and their families.

SALT LAKE CITY — William and Merci Murray will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary Feb. 27, at Saint Patrick Parish, although they have been members of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish their entire lives.

"It was the hand of the Lord that kept us together all these years," said Merci. "We were two very different people. I took my vows seriously – for better or worse, richer or poorer."

Merci met Bill in 1959 when she was 18 before she graduated from West High School. She was working as a maid at the Congress Hotel. Bill was 21 and had been staying at the Congress Hotel on and off since 1958. He was asked to come to Salt Lake City to spar with World Middleweight boxing champion Gene Fullmer, a West Jordan native.

"They couldn't get anybody to spar with Fullmer," said Willie Price, Utah Boxing Registration chairman, so they brought in Bill. "Bill was the only one who could give Fullmer a fight. Bill took some hard punches, but he stood up to Fullmer. Bill was always a gentleman. He never bragged about how good he was and he was a good role model for the kids."

"Bill was my first date, my first love and my first husband," said Merci. "I never would have met Bill the night I met him if my mother would have been at work. It must have been destiny."

Merci said her mother also worked at the Congress Hotel and she was very strict. She never would have allowed Merci to date Bill. Merci knew she had to take a chance.

Bill grew up in the Milline Boys Home for orphans in New Orleans, La., now called the Louis Armstrong Home. He learned to box at age 4 to survive. He also boxed when he was in the U.S. Marines.

"We met in July and we got married the following February in 1960," said Merci. "I guess he wanted the home and family he never had. I had just graduated from high school. I was too young and I did not know very much. He remained a boxer and I had five children right away."

In 1968 Bill decided it was time to quit boxing and went to college to become a master electrician. Merci stayed home to raise the kids. In the end they had eight children.

Valerie Murray is the oldest child. She said their family dynamics had everything to do with the Catholic Church. "My mother took us to church every Sunday. My father did not go to church until later in life. We would go to church and then out to dinner," said Valerie. "My mom was a lector, a eucharistic minister, in the sewing club, head of bingo, head of the funeral crew and sold lunches after Mass. All of us kids received all of our sacraments."

"My husband was the head of the household and it was important for me to take care of him so he could work to take care of his family," said Merci. "We were partners."

Merci and Bill are still partners. Merci takes care of Bill, who now suffers from Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. "He suffers from the same thing as Mohammad Ali (retired American boxer and three-time World Heavyweight Champion)," said Merci. He took too many punches in boxing. He has had this disease for the past 15 years, but it has gotten worse over the last five years. We used to clean Our Lady of Guadalupe Church together, but for the past two years I have cleaned it myself. But I thank God for our time together."