William Edwards Murray, 1925-2007
William E. Murray was born to Winnie Davis Edwards and Leon Dallas Murray in Charleston, South Carolina in 1925. He attended Charleston public schools, the Citadel, and the University of South Carolina, where he earned a bachelor’s and a law degree, and was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He received a fellowship to Harvard Law school, where he earned his L.L.M. in Taxation in 1949. He also attended New York University School of Law.
With his first wife, Minnie Holmes Murray, William fathered three children: Pamela Holmes (1949), Elizabeth Edwards (1952), Catherine Peronneau Murray Smith (1954; married to Hilton C. Smith). His fourth daughter, Brianna Wilder Murray, was born in 1981.
As a young man, William served in the United States Navy in WWII's Pacific theater as an engineering officer and lieutenant. He was a prominent tax attorney in New York, Atlanta, and South Carolina. As the founder and Chairman of the Board of East Bay Company, he worked in real estate development throughout the East Coast and revitalized historic downtown Charleston, South Carolina.
His philanthropy work was extensive and included serving on the boards of The Medical University of South Carolina, East West Institute, Spoleto
Festival, U.S.A. and Educational T.V. of South Carolina, and the Cancer Research Institute and Sloan Kettering Cancer Hospital. He was awarded the Order of The
Palmetto by Governor Riley and Governor Hodges.
Internationally, William Edwards served as a member of the United Nations Peace Academy, through which he developed an interest in environmental
issues in the Soviet Union. He became the only American member of the Russian Academy of Science.
William died in 2007 in Charleston, South Carolina. In his eulogy, he had requested that it be mentioned among his accomplishments that he had, at one point in his life, danced with Ginger Rogers.
With his first wife, Minnie Holmes Murray, William fathered three children: Pamela Holmes (1949), Elizabeth Edwards (1952), Catherine Peronneau Murray Smith (1954; married to Hilton C. Smith). His fourth daughter, Brianna Wilder Murray, was born in 1981.
As a young man, William served in the United States Navy in WWII's Pacific theater as an engineering officer and lieutenant. He was a prominent tax attorney in New York, Atlanta, and South Carolina. As the founder and Chairman of the Board of East Bay Company, he worked in real estate development throughout the East Coast and revitalized historic downtown Charleston, South Carolina.
His philanthropy work was extensive and included serving on the boards of The Medical University of South Carolina, East West Institute, Spoleto
Festival, U.S.A. and Educational T.V. of South Carolina, and the Cancer Research Institute and Sloan Kettering Cancer Hospital. He was awarded the Order of The
Palmetto by Governor Riley and Governor Hodges.
Internationally, William Edwards served as a member of the United Nations Peace Academy, through which he developed an interest in environmental
issues in the Soviet Union. He became the only American member of the Russian Academy of Science.
William died in 2007 in Charleston, South Carolina. In his eulogy, he had requested that it be mentioned among his accomplishments that he had, at one point in his life, danced with Ginger Rogers.