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Contact: Steve Walasewicz, 603-477-3875
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park Horticulturalist Kim Murray has retired after over two decades of service. For over 43 years, Murray has curated and cared for the landscape of the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller estate and will leave behind a legacy of beautifully maintained grounds and gardens.
Murry joined the park service when Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park was established in 1998, following 20 years of caring for the estate’s landscape and gardens during the era of private Rockefeller-era ownership.
“One cannot overstate the contributions that Kim Murray has made to the historic landscape of Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park,” said Facility Manager Steve Walasewicz. “Kim has left an indelible mark on the grounds of the estate, not only in the gardens, but also the beautifully maintained lawns and the many ornamental plant specimens ranging from small shrubs to towering, mature trees. Kim’s stewardship of the grounds has been exemplary, and he truly leaves behind a landscape to be enjoyed by future generations. His daily presence at the park will most certainly be missed, but his horticultural legacy will live on through his hands-on contributions to the landscape, as well as the knowledge that he has passed on to the future stewards of the park."
The phrases "born to it" and "hard worker" seems to fit his love of the land. From a young age, Murray knew he wanted to work outside in the dirt. In 1958, a smiling and cherubic three-year-old Murray was pictured holding a duck-shaped squash he grew in his grandmother's Victory Garden on the front page of his local newspaper, the Claremont Eagle. The caption read, “What a Garden He'll Grow!” Eventually he earned a degree in Horticulture from the University of New Hampshire and worked at several greenhouses and nurseries in the Durham/Portsmouth area to gain experience.
Murray met his wife, Sheila, when he moved to Woodstock, Vermont and joined Skyline Landscaping, Laurance Rockefeller's contract landscaper for his properties in Woodstock. Moving to Pomfret, Vermont on land farmed by his father-in-law, Murray says he just felt this was the place for him.
Through his association with Skyline Landscaping, Murray took part in putting in some of the first foundation plantings on the Mansion grounds back in 1978 and eventually was asked to create and care for what became the Rockefeller's cutting garden. That garden continues today as a bountiful yearly provider of colorful flowers carefully cut and placed in bouquets throughout the Park's public buildings, all a nod to Mary French Rockefeller who loved cut flowers placed throughout the mansion during the family's annual six week-long summer vacations.
Easy with a laugh and willing to stop to chat with most everyone, Murray enjoyed interacting with the visitors who loved to pick his brain for secret gardening tips and hear about his time working for the Rockefeller family. In a 2021 interview, Murray spoke of Mary and Laurance Rockefeller with immense regard, noting they were always generous with their appreciation of his crew and their work. "I always have it in my mind that I want it to be as if they were coming back," said Murray.
A native Vermonter, Murray plans to spend his retirement in Pomfret, where he raised two children and started a small landscape business with his wife.
A video series about Kim Murray's time at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park is available on the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller's YouTube Site: Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller NPS - YouTube (www.youtube.com/channel/UCekNlISaVXvXu31JwKoKOcA)
For more information about Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park and to see photos of the gardens visit www.nps.gov/mabi.
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About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 423 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.govLast updated: February 3, 2022