Lonnie Verle Murray

Lon was born September 12, 1948, in Longview, Washington the son of Alonzo Earnest Murray and Adeline Van De Zande. Lonnie was raised in Eugene, Oregon and graduated from South Eugene High in 1966. In 1967 he joined the U.S. Army. Lon trained at Fort Lewis where he was selected for Officers Training but declined because of the six-year commitment. Next, he was sent to Fort Sill in Oklahoma for advanced training as an Artillery Surveyor. In October of 1967 Lon was sent to Vietnam where he served until December of 1969.

After his time in the service, Lon attended Lane Community College earning his Associate of Science in Education in T.V. Production & Management as well as an Associate of Arts in Educational T.V. June of 1976.

Lon worked just under 7 years for KEZI in Eugene producing and directing T.V. shows. Later he moved to Pacific Coast Camera & Crew where he was a free-lance T.V. camera operator for the rest of his career. He proudly and happily filmed hundreds of sporting events for ABC, NBC, CBS, TNT, TBS, Speed Channel. He especially enjoyed filming the Portland Timber and Trailblazer games. He was a very welcome and familiar face at the games, so much so that the Timbers made him an honorary member of the team and presented him a team jersey. In 2016, after 40 years as a T.V. camera man he retired. 1976-2016.

In his leisure, Lon loved to golf, fish, camp, mine for gold, paint and he authored many short stories. He was a great storyteller and spent hours entertaining family and friends with tales of his life.

Lon was preceded in death by his father Alonzo E. Murray, his mother Adeline Van De Zande, sister Evelyn Wick, brothers Milton Carpenter, and Robert S. Darling. Lon is survived by his sister Patricia I. Dimbat as well as many nieces and nephews.