James Athol Murray (often referred to as Pere Murray) was born in Toronto on January 9, 1892. He attended Laval University studying law and worked for the Toronto World and the Toronto Star as a journalist. Neither his law career nor journalism satisfied and Athol Murray later entered St. Augustine's Seminary in Toronto and was ordained as a Catholic Priest in 1918. He was posted to Regina in 1922. While helping Archbishop Mathieu in Regina he formed an athletic club for boys known as the Argos. Four years later he was assigned to St. Augustine's Parish in Wilcox, Saskatchewan where he joined the Sisters of Charity of St. Louis at Notre Dame of the Prairies. Upon his appointment to Wilcox in 1927 Athol Murray began the high school program at the residential elementary school founded in 1920 by the Sisters of Charity of St. Louis. He succeeded in obtaining an official affiliation with the University of Ottawa in 1933 for the school's Arts program.
Based in the Catholic tradition, the college places special emphasis on athletics, particularly the hockey team, the Hounds, who have won forty-eight provincial and four national championships while over 100 former players have been drafted by NHL teams. Père Murray's dedication earned Notre Dame international recognition as Canada's largest co-educational residential high school. Athol Murray remained as administrator and teacher of the Arts Program at the school, now known as Notre Dame College, until his death. He was awarded the Order of Canada in 1968 by Governor General Roland Michener and became Monseigneur in the Catholic Church in 1969. Père Murray is a member of the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1968 and into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the Builder category posthumously in 1998. He died at the age of 83 on December 15, 1975. Notre Dame College was officially renamed the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in 1981.