Murray Graham McArthur

Murray was born in London, Ontario on June 19,1953 to Carl and Norma McArthur. He grew up in London, tormenting his younger sister Nancy, until he moved to Lindsay, Ontario to attend Forestry School. Murray the extrovert couldn’t find a Forestry job where he wasn’t alone in the trees, so he returned to London to follow family tradition working at Silverwood Dairies as the ice cream flavour man.

In 1977, his cousin Brian offered him a job as warehouse manager at Fairview Fittings in Winnipeg and after four years there, he was transferred to open and manage a Saskatoon branch.

Murray met Lynn within the first few months in Saskatoon. They were married in 1983 and their three children Nicole, Ian and Dean were born over the next five years. Murray spent as much time as possible with his family while continuing to work at Fairview Fittings and attending night classes to attain a diploma in Business Administration. He also began his active volunteer service with Rotary International, which continued for the rest of his life. Murray was transferred with Fairview to the Chicago area in 1992, until 1995 when he accepted an offer back in Saskatoon to buy into Panther Car Wash Equipment. He opened Fittings Supply of Canada as a side business which he grew to the point of running independently.

Murray thrived as a business owner until 2008 when he sold the business and semi-retired. He couldn’t sit idle for long though; he subsequently purchased Postcard Portables, and after that ended, bought and sold golf carts at Blackstrap. Murray and Lynn purchased a cabin in the village of Shields at Blackstrap Lake in 2005 and then moved there permanently five years later after renovating and expanding their log home. Shields could not have been a better place for Murray to have spent his last 15 years- golfing, fishing, boating, taking his grandkids tubing, and constantly socializing. Murray also loved to travel, taking the family on many adventures and later spending numerous warm winters in Palm Springs and Mexico.

Murray will be remembered for his zest for life. He LOVED life and all the good people and things in it. His positive character shone consistently, even through his battle with cancer. The love and affection he showed his family was boundless and never having lost his own youthful spirit, his grandkids held an especially soft spot in his heart. As a big-hearted and giving man, he was always going out of his way to help others- a bright light in the lives of all who knew him. Murray will be remembered by many as authentically himself, an exceedingly outgoing and fun person to be around. As a poster-boy candidate for the book “How to win friends and influence people”, he truly lived his life motto: “You can never have too many friends”. He was also a man of legendary stories; sometimes he was the one telling them, but in most cases, he was the lead character in his own incredible and comical adventures.

Left to mourn his loss but cherish his memory are his wife of 41 years Lynn McArthur (née Bénard), his children Nicole (Matthew Kemp), Ian (Rae Henderson) and Dean (Baillie McArthur) and 7 grandchildren he so dearly loved Enver, Aiden, Emery, Élise, Luca, Mattéo and Avéline. He also leaves to mourn his sister Nancy Armstrong (Bob) and their family, his cousin Brian McArthur and his family, as well as sisters and brothers-in-law, Germaine, Irene (Ray), Muriel (Byron), Doris, Denis, Gerald and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents Carl and Norma McArthur, his parents- in-law Albert and Rita Benard, as well as numerous brothers and sisters-in- law.