It's Time. Faces of The Campaign - Tilton School

complications from a fractured hip. Born in Bound Brook,NJ, on December 27, 1923, he served his country duringWorld War II aboard a hospital ship, transporting Americantroops between the United States and Europe. For manyyears, Hal and his wife, Jane, served as volunteer coordinatorsof the Heart Association of Ft. Lauderdale’s DebutanteBall. He was preceded in death by his brother, Robert, by hisparents, Robert Baines and Lucia Schier Hesson, and by hisbeloved wife of 54 years, Jane Stelle Hesson. He is survivedby his daughter, Lesley Hesson Anglin, her husband, RobertAnglin, and their children Ashley, Dana and Robert, andRobert’s wife, Giuliana. He is also survived by his son,Clarkson Schier Hesson, his wife, Glenda, and theirdaughter, Heather, all of Ft. Lauderdale. He is also survivedby his son, Robert Stelle Hesson of Jacksonville, Florida.Remembrances of Will “Horty” Murray ’66:Will. By whatever name you knew Will Murray, he was aone-of-a-kind, unforgettable guy. Multi-talented andsupremely confident, Will loved life, it seemed, at warpspeed, sampling as much of it as he could. The saying, “It’snot the years in your life but the life in your years thatmatters,” might be a cliché, but it rings true for our friendand colleague Will. We are deeply saddened that he wasgiven only 58 years on this earth, but no one can deny thathe lived every one of them to the fullest.Will was, to those who knew him best, a modern dayRenaissance man, possessing a wide range of interests andabilities. He had a passion for life and an energy that fewothers could match. And he didn’t expend that energysolely for his own benefit. If you needed anything fixedthat had a motor, gears, or belts, Will was your man.Construction skills were part of his repertoire as well, andhe willingly offered his talents to help those less gifted inthat area. Just have the beer cold, and Will would show up,putting his own personal stamp on the job.According to the old adage, “All work and no play makeJack a dull boy.” Will was definitely not cut from the samemold as Jack because he knew how to enjoy himself. Heengaged in a wide range of leisure activities. His ability as adownhill skier was unparalleled; the whole point of Alpineskiing to him was getting down the hill as fast as he could.When the snows of winter yielded to the warmth of springand summer, he became Captain Will, expertly navigatinghis 42-foot boat over the waters of Lake Ontario and theSt. Lawrence River. For many years, the second Sunday inJuly would find him running the Boilermaker, greatlyinspired, no doubt, by the beer waiting at the finish line.Running eventually gave way to biking, which was kinderon his knees. In every one of his pastimes, he displayed histrademark exuberance and competitiveness, traits whichnaturally drew people to him. Everything Will did, he didwith an exclamation point and in his own inimitable style.The same can be said of his career as a teacher. To paraphraseHenry David Thoreau, Will marched to the beat ofhis own drummer in his classroom. He looked at his job asa resource/special ed teacher through his own uniqueprism, and he definitely did it his way. His way wasn’talways the conventional one, and his methods sometimesrankled both his colleagues and his bosses, but oneconstant remained throughout his 32-year career: He careddeeply about his kids. He was a tireless advocate for them.Will’s friends, only half-jokingly, suggest that he understoodkids with ADHD so well because he had it himself.There is no doubt that he had empathy for the kids hetaught and that he made a difference in many of their livesby believing in them and by relating to them as more thanjust an authority figure.In addition to giving his best to the students he had inclass, Will also touched the lives of many more students inNew Hartford through his role as senior class advisor. Intypical Murray fashion, he threw himself into the job,Fall 2006 | 45