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Laurel Patricia Hansen Murray Boynton, known as “Pat,” died July 3, 2019, in Florida.
Born in New York City in 1923 to Cecilia Loretta Fisher and Canute Hildur Hansen, she attended grammar school at the Hamilton Grange, the former home of the great patriot, Alexander Hamilton. Her father was both an accomplished dentist and professor of physical education at City College. Her mom was one of only 12 girls to graduate in 1912 from Hunter College. Poppy, as Mr. Hansen was known, moved his four girls—Cecile, Adele, Pat and Karin—to Great Neck, where they finished high school, spending summers on the Great South Bay in East Moriches, learning tennis and sailing, which is still a family legacy. Ms. Boynton and her sisters, Adele and Karin, sailed in the American women’s sailing championships and came in second in the Adams Cup for the Westhampton Yacht Squadron in 1947. She was also a ballerina for many years, dancing in New York City with the Balanchine students at Lincoln Center.
She graduated from Cedar Crest College in 1944 and married her college sweetheart, after the end of World War II in 1946. Glenn Allan Murray was a member of the U.S. Marine Corps and present at the Battle of Iwo Jima, before his many succeeding years at the Union Carbide Corporation as senior vice president of the Linde Division. In 1968 he moved the family from Pelham, New York to Hamilton, Bermuda, to be the president of Mundo Gas Corporation. The family loved the island life, playing golf and entertaining family and friends.
Their daughter, Susan, attended Bermuda High School, while Glenn Jr. “Chip” was attending the University of Denver, and Sharon was graduating from Mount Holyoke College. Mr. Murray died in 1991.
Ms. Boynton later married lifelong friend, William Boynton of East Moriches, spending 22 happy years at the Quail Ridge Golf and Country Club in Boynton Beach, Florida.
Many will treasure memories of Ms. Boynton and her great sense of humor, singing in the kitchen with her sisters or volunteering for the garden club, Junior League or altar guild at church. She was a landmark participant in all the things she loved.
She is survived by her three children, Sharon Lorenzo, Glenn Murray Jr., and Susan Murray; five grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Memorial donations may be made to Cedar Crest College, 100 College Drive, Allentown, PA, 18104.
on Jul 12, 2019