Murray McCheyne Thomson (1922–2019)

Tribute to ‘a renaissance man of peace’

It is sad to hear about the passing at the age of 96 of our dear Friend (Quaker) Murray McCheyne Thomson on May 2nd, 2019, in Ottawa, Ontario.

He was born in China, raised by parents who where Christian missionaries, came to Canada as a child, grew, joined the Society of Friends, and persistently advocated for world peace to the end of his life. I really admired him, as did many here.

I last saw him on March 30, 2019 at the 'Say No to NATO' demonstration in downtown Ottawa during a blizzardy snowy cold day. He came out on his walker. I took pictures of Murray and briefly talked about the Big Issues of society — of disarmament and peace.

We have had a long relationship with Murray over the years. I first met him in Saskatchewan in the early1950s when Murray worked as an adult educator. We met again in the 1970s at the Grindstone Island Peace Education Centre, where Murray was one of the founders. (See his paper below.)

Despite protesting the Canadian military, Murray was decorated as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2001, and the Pearson Medal of Peace in 1990 from the United Nations Association of Canada. He is renowned for co-founding 7 peace organizations from 1976 to 2012.

In 1982 Murray was one of the signatories with me to a UN appeal at the International Doukhobor Intergroup Symposium, Castlegar, BC, sent to the Second Special Session on Disarmament of the United Nations.

In October 2008 we published Murray’s proposal that the traditional Canadian peace groups — Doukhobors, Mennonites and Quakers — unite to stimulate an anti-NATO initiative, to promote a world without wars.

Murray indeed will be missed. He played the violin, had a great connection to people, with lots of enthusiasm and authority as well as humour. He was a renaissance man of peace — and he and his deeds need to be remembered so as to help us save our civilization from the scourge of wars.

I believe we all need to follow his example — stand up and be counted in searching and working for world peace and social justice. With the Doomsday Clock of Scientists at one minute to midnight, the need to speak out today is very urgent!

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Update — On Oct 23, 2019, a 'Celebration of Life' gathering for Murray was held at the First Unitarian Church, Ottawa. I posted 63 photos. Around 200 people turned out including many peace activists, such as Ernie Regehr, Earl Turcotte, Brent Patterson, Ken Kensky Billings, Nick Aplin, Budd Hall, Edward Gertler, Dennis Gruending, Eric Memoria J. Schiller, Matt Legge, Jean Christie, Gordon Breedyk, Evelyn Voigt, Fergus Watt, Randy Weekes, Susan McMaster, Colin Stuart, Debbie Grisdale, Mary Girard, Judith Brown, and Sybil Grace. The program included a Memorial Meeting, Reception, and an evening gathering at a Westboro Pub. The Memorial brought forth many praises to the late Murray Thomson — a 'living legend' who was intellectually committed to peaceful social change in creating a world without wars.  

—  On the loss of Murray Thomson, PeaceQuest.ca,  May 17, 2019 --  'CFSC style Memorial and Celebration of Life for Murray McCheyne Thomson (19 December 1922 Honan, China – 2 May 2019 Ottawa, Canada)

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By and about Murray

Fonds RC0129 - Murray Thomson fonds, 1941-2011 (Creation), Archives and Collections, McMaster University Library, Hamilton, Ontario.

In 1981 he co-founded Peace Brigades International, Wikipedia. — Inspired by Gandhi's peace army in India,

Murray Thomson. ‘The Relevance of our Testimonies to Peace’, Symposium Proceedings: International Doukhobor Intergroup Symposium. Castlegar, British Columbia, Canada, June 25-28, 1982. Pages 58-59. Koozma J. Tarasoff (Coordinator and Editor).

Murray Thomson, Ottawa Quakers active in peace work (a selection), Quaker.org. April 1995.

Murray Thomson. The Grindstone Era: Looking Back, Looking Ahead, The Canadian Quaker History Journal, No. 66, 2001, pages 12-15. — Paper given at the 2001 Annual Meeting of the CFHA

Murray Thomson, Wikipedia, March 2004+

Murray Thomson. Minutes to midnight : Why more than 800 Order of Canada recipients call for nuclear disarmament (PDF). Nuclear Weapons Convention. Ottawa, ON. 2005.

Murray Thomson. ‘Toward a Culture of Peace’, Press Release from the Religious Society of Friends, Spirit Wrestlers website, 30 August 2006 — Announcement for the Gardner Lecture at the Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends, Winnipeg, Manitoba, given by Murray: 'Toward a Culture of Peace: Can We Afford to Pay the Price?'

Koozma J. Tarasoff. Ottawa Peace Festival Provides Hope for an Ailing World : 1st Ottawa Peace Festival 2007 Review. Spirit Wrestlers website, October 3, 2007.

Dennis Gruending. Murray Thomson says no to militarism, Peace and Politics blog, October 23, 2008.

Murray Thomson. Traditional Peace Groups Explore Withdrawal from NATO. Spirit Wrestlers website, October 24, 2008.

Dennis Gruending. Murray Thomson book excerpt from Pulpit and Politics, Peace and Politics blog, November 2, 2011. 

Koozma J. Tarasoff. Peacemaker Murray Thomson at 90,  Spirit Wrestlers website, December 10, 2012. — Plus 108 photographs, 55 showing Murray.

Dennis Gruending. Murray Thomson Peace Activist at 90, Peace and Politics blog, December 12, 2012.

‘Age is More : Murray Thompson’ (3.5 min video), The Revera and Reel Youth Age is More Film Project. Youtube, July 3, 2014.

Dennis Gruending. Happy warriors: Order of Canada recipients call for the elimination of nukes, Peace and Politics blog, June 18, 2015.

Walk with Us, (poster) Ottawa Peace Festival 2015. September 2015.

Nuclear war still threatens world, experts say; disarmament only solution, CBC News, May 17, 2016 — Murray Thomson has over 800 Order of Canada winners supporting disarmament in new book.

Peace activist says it's time to speak up about nuclear disarmament, BC Almanac, Episode 300249841 (22:39 min. audio), CBC Radio, May 16, 2016 — Can Canada help lead the world to nuclear disarmament? An Order of Canada winner says yes — but the people need to speak up, and the politicians need to listen.

150+ Canadians Day 151: Murray Thomson, by Jolene Simko, Peace Quest, (Internet Archive) July 2, 2017. — Refers to book: 150 Canadian Stories of Peace, 2017, with 2 stories about Thomson: 'Murray McCheyne Thomson' (page 70) and, 'Our Mahatma Walks the Walk' (page 189).

Koozma J. Tarasoff. ‘Music Against War’ versus CANSEC — May 30, 2018, Spirit-Wrestlers website. June 4, 2018 — Plus 96 photos, 2 showing Murray. 

Koozma J. Tarasoff. No to NATO and War — Yes to Peace and Progress, Spirit Wrestlers blog. March 30, 2019 — Plus 40 photos, 6 showing Murray, taken in Ottawa, March 3, 2019,

Dennis Gruending. 'Peace activist Murray Thomson dies at 96'. Peace and Politics blog, May 5, 2019.

Murray Thomson, co-founder Project Ploughshares, 1922-2019 : requiescal in pace (Internet Archive), Ploughshares, May 6, 2019.

Cresky, Jim. Murray Thomson: from RCAF pilot to pacifist, The Hill Times, May. 8, 2019

On the loss of Murray Thomson …a fine fellow with a great sense of humour, PeaceQuest, May 17, 2019. — Links to 5 more articles.

Murray Thomson: Peace Warrior: Ploughshares Co-founder 1922-2019, Ploughshares, July 3, 2021.