James Murray Egan

James Murray Egan, born in Pittsburgh and former longtime resident of Shadyside and later O’Hara Township, died Monday, November 29, 2021, from complications of Parkinson’s disease. He was 95. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of sixty-five years, Elisa “Lisa” Camilli Egan, his parents, Judge John Paul and Luceille Murray Egan, his brothers, John P., Jr. (Louise Flood, dec’d.) and Robert B. (Ann Midwood, dec’d., Barbara Forrester), his sister, Luceille Fleming (Gerald, dec’d.), and two nephews. He is survived by his sister, Susanne E. Humphrey of Wellesley, MA, his children, twin daughters Marguerite “Mimi” of Guilford, CT, and Luceille “Cici” of Pittsburgh, sons David (Delia Hanna) of Gibsonia, James “Jamie” (Connie Humphrey) of Pittsburgh, and Peter (Heather Morrow) of Winston Salem, NC, and eight grandchildren, Marguerite “Marney,” Kathryn, DJ, Tim, Rachel, Jamie (Andrew Burdick), Rose, and Elizabeth “Lilly,” who all called him “Pops,” and who delighted in his sense of humor. Also survived by many nieces and nephews. Murray, as he was known from youth, graduated from Shady Side Academy, where he won academic awards and was President of his class, despite spending part of a school year bed-ridden at home in a body cast as the result of a broken back, and later in life served on its Board of Trustees. He also graduated from Yale University and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he was Note and Case Editor of the Law Review and graduated Order of the Coif. He actively practiced law for more than 65 years, first as a partner with Weller, Wicks and Wallace, and, after the practices combined, with Metz Lewis Brodman Must O’Keefe, as an expert in trusts and estates, complex multi-state guardianships, and the intricacies of oil and gas holdings related to trusts, estates and guardianships. The capstone of his career, at age 90, was navigating the closing of a substantial sale of West Texas mineral rights to Parsley Energy, for the benefit of a Pittsburgh-based charitable organization. Early in his career, he won a federal appeals court case by diagramming a sentence! Prior to his retirement, Murray was the individual co-Trustee of the Edith L. Trees Charitable Trust. In that capacity, his conscientious and persistent stewardship benefited many activities and organizations in Western Pennsylvania serving the needs of children living with intellectual disabilities. He accepted the gratitude of grant recipients with amazement because, as he was always quick to point out, it was not his money. He was a co-founder of Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, a statewide group helping legal professionals with substance abuse and mental health issues, editor of a groundbreaking edition of The Pittsburgh Legal Journal on addiction and recovery, and a former Trustee of the Caron Foundation. Murray was a member of the Fox Chapel Golf Club, and he asked to be remembered as a former member of the Hollywood Social Club, an after-hours club located on Walnut Street back in the day. He was a stalwart and almost daily Port Authority bus rider for more than 60 years and celebrated birthday and holiday parties with his bus group. To his family, Murray was known for signing anniversary and birthday cards to his wife “Y.E.L.H.,” which stands for “your ever-loving husband,” for teaching himself to play a respectable game of tennis by reading books on how to play and strategy, for his avid interest in golf, and for sending his children and grandchildren letters that closed with a reminder to eat a good breakfast (decades before it became the norm for healthy living) and pray for our enemies. Murr/Murray/Dad/Pops was the soul of our family, dearly loved, greatly missed, and forever in our hearts. Friends will be received at JOHN A. FREYVOGEL SONS, INC. (freyvogelfuneralhome.com), 4900 Centre Avenue at Devonshire Street, Pittsburgh 15213 on Sunday, December 5th, from 1 to 4 p.m. A private Mass of Christian Burial will be concelebrated by his grandson Rev. David J. "DJ" Egan, with private interment at Calvary Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to Shady Side Academy (423 Fox Chapel Road, Pittsburgh PA 15238) or the Little Sisters of the Poor (1028 Benton Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15212).

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