John S. McMurray Jr.
Rank: Private First Class, U.S. Army
Serial: 32759211
Unit: Company B, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division
Entered service from: New Jersey
Died:
Burial: Locustwood Memorial Park, Route 70 & Cooper Landing Road, Cherry Hill, NJ
Awards: Purple Heart
Introduction
Private First Class John S. McMurray Jr.
Private First Class John S. McMurray Jr. was born in Delaware in 1916 to John S. and Mary McMurray. His parents were both emigrants from Northern Ireland. The family was renting a home on Delaware River Road in Oldmans Township in Salem County, NJ by 1920. The elder McMurray was then working as a laborer at a military ordnance depot. He was managing a grocery store at the time of the 1930 census, when the McMurray family, which by this time included younger brother Robert, lived in Camden, NJ at 107 South 36th Street. John McMurray Jr. worked for the American Stores Company, a chain grocery business, and later for the New York Shipbuilding Corporation prior to his induction into the United States Army.
After basic training, John McMurray Jr. was assigned to Company B of the 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division. He was killed in action on February 29, 1944, near Mount Caira, Italy.
After the war, John S. McMurray was brought home, and after a memorial service at the funeral home at 804-06 North 27th Street in Camden, NJ, was buried in Locustwood Memorial Park in Delaware Township (present-day Cherry Hill), NJ, on September 30, 1948. He was survived by his father, who had moved to Pitman, NJ, and his brother, in 1948 serving as a lieutenant in the United States Army.
Rites Thursday For War Hero
Camden Courier-Post —
Services for Pfc. John S. McMurray Jr. will be held Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in the funeral home at 804-06 North Twenty-seventh street, where friends may call tomorrow night for a memorial service. Burial will be in Locustwood Memorial park.
Private McMurray was killed Feb. 29, 1944, while fighting in the vicinity of Mt. Cairo, Italy, at the age of 29. He was with Company B, 141st Infantry, 36th Division.
Before going into service, Private McMurray had lived in Camden and was employed by the American Stores Co. and the New York Shipbuilding Corp.
He is survived by his father, John, of 530 Elwood avenue, Pitman; a brother, Lieutenant Robert, army, and a sister-in-law, Kathleen.