Fortieth Anniversary
Murray House Gang

November 12, 2011
Seagirt, NJ

The Gang's All Here!!!


A Short History of the Murray House Gang

 

 

Pre History

 

Spring 1970, seven Fraternity Brothers from St John’s (Sigma Chi Upsilon) fresh from military service rent a summer house in Spring Lake Heights.

 

 

The Beginnings

 

            Spring 1971, four of the above, Ed Smith, Tony Stoya, Frank Segreto and John Clarke look to rent another summer house. Needing more guys Ed Smith recruits John Simonetti and Joe Brogan from 14th Street. Tony Stoya recruits Joe Buckley from Morgan Guarantee. And John Clarke runs into Carl Crownover on Tillary St. Carl, a fraternity brother and high school friend, just discharged from the Army is likewise recruited. During this time Joe Brogan drops out and John Simonetti says he knows a guy named Tony Nicotra from Pan Am who is desperately in need of friends. Tony completes the yet unnamed gang and goes in on the summer rental on Parkway in Belmar.

 

            That summer the group runs into Vinny Mandracchia, another fraternity brother, who was in a house in Manasquan. Among the guys in Vinny’s house were a loquacious fellow named Bob Williamson and his buddy Ed Rhew. Bob had a girlfriend named Anne Naughton who had a friend from the phone company, Janet Reilly. Tony Stoya invites another Morgan friend for a weekend named John Raggio. Joe Buckley went to get gas one day and wasn’t heard from again for 14 years.

 

            Also during this summer, the Crown met Rosemarie Molina, Simonetti met Linda Janosi and Clarke met Ginny Keffner.

 

 

The Murray House

 

A         Fall 1971, having had such a good summer the guys listed above (and a couple others whose names I forget or can’t spell) decided to go skiing for the winter. Another Tony Stoya contact from Morgan and a classmate from St Johns named Tom Strong was married to a St John’s girl named Sheila Leonard. Sheila’s father, Charlie, a retired NYPD cop owned property near Hunter Mountain. He owned a country house that was once owned by Frank Murray, whose money was never found and was presumed protected by Frank’s Ghost. Charlie (the Old Man) rented this house to Stoya and his friends. For some fortunate reason the above listed girls followed the guys to the slopes of Hunter.

 

This was the beginning of what became the Murray House Gang. In the years to follow the Scamp met Louise Noferi, Stoya met Anne McGinley, Smith met Mary Foley and Ragg and Reilly became an item. Along the way we lost two, Anne Williamson ‘00 and Tony Stoya ‘03. But others have joined the gang, notably Rosemary and Harriet (R and H), R’s husband Anthony, Anne Stoya’s friend Jim and Bob’s new bride Laurie.

 

The Murray House Gang.

 

            Simonetti and Janosi started the weddings by ruining a perfectly good Memorial Day Weekend. They were followed by The Crowns, Williamsons, Scamps, Clarkes, Ragges, Smiths and Stoyas. Then the kids came. During the next forty years the MHG met at each others homes for parties, bar-b-cues and weddings. In the early 1990’s Anne Williamson started the Christmas Dinner, which has become an annual event. There have been ski trips, and vacations together. The kids have gone to college and are in touch with each other. They are marrying and giving us grandchildren. Since 1999 the Murray House Gang Website had kept a running history of the gang. 

 

All in All things are good after forty years in the Murray House Gang

Notices

. Gang.