Post a story

Obituaries ›

John Murray, ran party supply store in Willowbrook, dies

Feb. 9 at 6:15 a.m.

In 1990, John A. Murray was crowned king of Krewe of Mid-City — an honor typically bestowed on natives of New Orleans — and rode atop the main float in a 50-float parade the Sunday before Fat Tuesday.

The affable owner of Murray’s Partytime Supplies in Willowbrook created one of the first Halloween superstores each fall. For eight weeks, his 20,000-plus-square-foot party-supply center was transformed into a haunted emporium, filled with both gore and a sense of humor.

Customers were entertained by Sparky, a talking animatronic skeletal criminal who cracked jokes while being electrocuted.

Mr. Murray, 77, of Indian Head Park and formerly of Hinsdale, died of complications from diabetes Monday, Jan. 23, in Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital.