Jack Murray remembered as generous and ‘relentlessly optimistic’

Local News

By Jade Lozada, The Boston Globe

January 5, 2025 | 10:36 AM

2 minutes to read

Twelve-year-old Jack Murray of Weymouth will be remembered as “the most magical little boy” who was “on his way to becoming a truly exceptional man” after passing away in a skiing accident on Cranmore Mountain in New Hampshire on New Year’s Eve, his obituary stated.

Jack hit a tree while skiing on Cranmore’s intermediate Bandit trail on Tuesday morning, police said Thursday. After providing CPR, Cranmore Mountain Ski Patrol transported the boy to the base of the mountain, according to Conway Police Chief Christopher Mattei and the ski resort.

Jack later died from his injuries at MaineHealth Memorial Hospital.

“Jack was relentlessly optimistic from the moment he was born,” his father Paul Murray said in a phone call Saturday. “He was just loving and caring, and he was always looking out for his friends and his family.”

Murray remembers his son as a mentor to younger children wherever he went.

“Whether it was on skis or on a soccer field or at the park, as a little kid who needed help or comfort or something, they would just walk up to Jack somehow and knew that he was the type of person that would help them,” Murray said.

Last winter, Murray was teaching his younger son to ski on the bunny hill when he turned around to find Jack helping small children get off the magic carpet, walk across the snow, and position their skis.

Jack was also a leader on the soccer field during three seasons as the assistant coach of his younger brother’s team. Murray was the head coach.

“These kids loved him, and they loved to be around him. He was just so generous and patient with his brother and little kids. He was just always a safe person for little kids to be around,” Murray said.

Jack loved to play trombone and drums in the Maria Chapman Middle School band, where he tried everything from bongo drums to sleigh bells. After overcoming his anxiety about playing new instruments, Jack had grown to love playing in the band in recent months, his father said.

“Trying something he was nervous about and facing that head-on that was just who he was, he went after things,” Murray said.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, Jack’s family is requesting donations to the Maria Chapman Middle School band through a GoFundMe page, which has raised over $60,000 as of Saturday afternoon.

Jack is survived by his father Paul, mother Crystal, and brother Finn of Weymouth, grandparents Edith and Charles Bernier and Helena and John Murray, ten aunts and uncles, and 14 cousins.

Services will be private.