Sr Anita Murray Turns 90

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SR ANITA MURRAY TURNS 90

Born in a very small maternity hospital by the name of Boonara, Sr Anita was the fourth child of Elizabeth and Edmund Murray and sister to Paul, Moya and Desmond. She grew up in a house on Arthur Street which she says ‘holds the happiest of memories’ for her.

Her schooling began at OLSH where she made many friends. Several of these friends went on to Brigidine College Randwick with her for their secondary education. With a fondness for the nuns who had taught her, the Brigidine Sisters left a lasting impression on Sr Anita and a year after finishing school she decided she wanted to enter the Brigidine Order. After some years of Novitiate, Sr Anita began her lifetime of study and teaching. She completed a degree in English and History at Sydney University and later when she moved to work at Brigidine Indooroopilly, Queensland completed her Dip Ed by correspondence from the New England University. From Indooroopilly, Sr Anita moved to a school in Coonamble NSW which was the first school opened by the Brigidine Order when they arrived in Australia in 1883. She went on to a school in Canberra where she worked with nuns from different orders. After this she made several more moves going back to Queensland and Canberra before arriving at Brigidine St Ives in 1974. For just over a year Sr Anita was a member of the teaching staff at the College and in Term 3 of 1975 she was appointed Principal, a position she was to hold until leaving the College in early 1989.

During her principalship she presided over an expanding community with pupil numbers rising to over 600 by the time she left. She realised her vision of a flourishing College with campus growth, a broad curriculum and increased cocurricular activities. Her leadership saw the strengthening and expansion of the creative arts and she was well known for her support and promotion of sports. Building infrastructure was doubled when she implemented the building of the Library, Science Annexe, Gymnasium and conversion of part of the Convent to teaching facilities.

After her departure from Brigidine College St Ives, Sr Anita taught at a Brigidine School in Windsor UK, returning to Australia as Provincial in 1999.

In 2014, the College was pleased to announce Sr Anita as the first ‘Patron of Alumni’ and since then she has supported College events and the alumni community. She often shares her memories of past staff and students and has a keen interest in the College archives. She is always eager to hear about the developments of today’s College campus and its students. Always drawing a crowd in the Staff Room when she visits, we are thrilled Sr Anita is still very much a part of College life.

Sr Anita has now come full circle and again lives in Randwick. In February she celebrated her 90th birthday. On behalf of both the College and alumni community we wish her a very happy birthday.