Floyd Murr; LLB 1948; died September 23, 2011
From http://www.denverpost.com/ci_18999177
Law was just part of Murr's repertoire
By Virginia Culver
The Denver Post
Floyd Murr, a longtime lawyer in Walsenburg, had a side interest — music. And he was still playing not long before his death at 90.
Murr died Friday at a Department of Veterans Affairs facility in Walsenburg. Though he suffered from dementia and was in a wheelchair, he could still play Scott Joplin's ragtime numbers.
Murr, a Harvard Law School graduate, concentrated on water law, real estate, trusts and estates, said his son Austin Murr of Denver.
"He read the law voraciously," said Austin Murr, also a lawyer.
"He was the most parsimonious writer I ever knew," he said. "He just wrote simply."
He described his dad as tough-minded. "When he made up his mind," he said, "that was it."
Floyd Murr was vice president of the Colorado Bar Association in the late 1950s and again in the 1980s. He was a part-time county judge in Huerfano County from 1970 until 1985.
He played trumpet in dance bands from the time he was 14 until he was in his 70s, and he played trumpet at the University of Colorado and in the Army.
"That got him out of the fighting," said another son, Dr. Peter Murr of Denver.
Floyd Murr and friends wrote, produced and performed variety shows for fundraisers.
Once he played the piano with a group performing in La Veta. The piano was on a pickup, and he had to stand up to play it, Austin Murr said.
Almost all his appearances in dance bands were for charitable events, including those to raise money for a new hospital 40 years ago, Peter Murr said.
Floyd Murr was devoted to southern Colorado and told people "there's no place better," Peter Murr said.
Floyd K. Murr was born April 8, 1921, in Walsenburg.
He graduated from the University of Colorado, served in the Army and then went to Harvard.
He married Norma Lou Brunelli on June 25, 1949.
He had a law office in Walsenburg's First National Bank building from the 1950s until 2007.
In addition to his wife and sons, he is survived by his daughter, Mary Pfau of Centennial, and a grandson.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
[Published in The Denver Post on September 29, 2011]