Melvin G. Murley Fund

Melvin Murley was born in Nova Scotia and resided in Wakefield for 44 years. He served in the Army during World War II and was a graduate of Boston University and earned a master’s degree from the University of Michigan. He worked as a manager at Draper Laboratories for over 25 years. Mr. Murley was a member of the Golden Rule Lodge, Quannapowitt Yacht Club and the Wakefield Unitarian Universalist Church. He was also a ham radio operator, using the call letters W1KYU. This fund was established in June 1995 nearly a year after Melvin Murley died. To initiate the fund, The Honorable A. David Mazzone, a resident of Wakefield and a federal judge, donated the stipend he received for a speech made during the 1995 Sweetser Lecture Series. Local veterinarian Dr. E. Turner Lewis also donated the Sweetser Lecture fee he received in 1996 for his talk on the subject of the Iditarod Race in Alaska to this fund. Melvin Murley’s widow, Serena, was instrumental in the reactivation of the Sweetser Lecture Series during the 1980s. For over 25 years she was an active member of the Sweetser Lecture Advisory Committee, where she served as corresponding secretary as well as in many other leadership roles.