Milledge Murray was sitting along the third base line at Jack Murphy Stadium in Atlanta on March 8, 1974, when Hank Aaron hit his 715th career home run and surpassed Babe Ruth on the all-time list.

He followed Jack Nicklaus around the back nine at the Augusta National Golf Club in 1986 when the Golden Bear won his sixth Masters Tournament.

He was on national television in 2003 when the PBS program History Detectives revealed the authenticity of his club's document where General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Civil War army.

But what most impresses his boss: "He's the only person in banking I know that could go into any physician's office today and get in to see the physician within a few minutes," said SunTrust Augusta president Bill Thompson. "He's the only person I know that has those kind of relationships."

As first vice president, Mr. Murray takes care of physicians, lawyers and other affluent clients. He followed in his mother's shoes and went into banking 37 years ago.

Mr. Murray works on the second floor of the SunTrust Building on Broad Street, in an office Mr. Thompson calls The Shrine.

The walls of The Shrine are dotted with historical memorabilia. There are Masters badges and score cards. There's a picture of Ty Cobb with a signed check. A celebratory painting of Jack.

Mr. Murray has delivered 20 talks on Augusta baseball history, a passion that spilled over from his love of collecting.

Son Edward Murray said he's gleaned a lot of Augusta baseball history from his father.

"Random stuff," he said. "Like the first indoor baseball game was played where Augusta State is."

The elder Murray has met the major leaguers from the area, such as Philadelphia A's pitcher Lou Brisie and Yankees infielder Bill Johnson. He's met a few of the all-time greats, including Hall of Fame Yankees pitcher Whitey Ford.

But he never met the baseball figure who most fascinated him. He was 14 when Cobb died in Atlanta in 1961.

He never met a lot of the historical figures that have fascinated him. Many of those people are his ancestors.

George Galphin, his grandfather of seven generations back, traded with Indians at Silver Bluff near Beech Island. "They had religious activities on his plantation. Evangelists would come speak to the slaves."

Mr. Murray said it might be the earliest Christian activity with slaves in America and led to the creation of a Baptist church in the years soon after the American Revolution.

To Augusta shop owner Steve Fishman, the history-buff banker became part of the history of one of the longest standing businesses in the downtown. He saved it.

A SECOND MILE TO HELP

Hero Banker. That's the title of a plaque Mr. Fishman, the proprietor of Sidney's Department Store and Uniforms on Broad Street, made for Mr. Murray's wall.

Fishman's family business has been around for 113 years now. But in 1994, when Mr. Fishman was trying to expand the store, there was an accident that caused part of the wall to crumble. Mr. Fishman got bad news from his bank, with which his family had a 60-year relationship. The loan he needed to repair the damage was turned down under the rationale that a damaged business would have no way to repay.

So Mr. Fishman switched banks.

"Milledge was referred to me," Mr. Fishman said. "He looked me and my father in the eye and said, 'Y'all are an icon on Broad Street ... We need to keep people like you in business.'"

Mr. Murray has been systematically refinancing the loans over the last five years and they're nearly paid off.

"Milledge Murray saved this business," Mr. Fishman said. "Milledge is the kind of person who truly understands what it takes to keep a city and the business district alive. Most bankers never learn this."

Mr. Murray was exposed to business and banking early in his life. His father, Alexander, worked at Cullum's, the Broad Street clothing store that was notable for supplying green jackets for Augusta National Golf Club members for 25 years. After 29 years in retail, Alexander Murray had a stroke in 1976. He died four years later.

His mother, Ina, worked for SunTrust when it was known as National Exchange Bank. She took deposits during World War II and didn't leave the bank for 28 years. She died in 1986.

"My first home was at the corner of 5th and Greene," Mr. Murray said. It is vacant land now, but it was once a boarding house run by his grandmother from the 1930s to the 1950s. After World War II, his parents lived at the boarding house.

After graduating high school, Mr. Murray didn't follow in either parents' careers. He set off to Clemson University to pursue a degree in industrial education.

"I thought I would have gotten into a textile mill, involved with management or personnel."

Mr. Murray said he went to college simply to get a degree. He didn't have it in mind that he was receiving the training needed for the rest of his life.

There was no textile mill waiting for Mr. Murray when he got out of Clemson.

He'd been drafted into military service during the Vietnam War. "I was within 30 to 45 days of reporting to Fort Jackson."

It was at that time that the 319th Transportation Unit had returned from Vietnam. "It created an immediate opening of 120 people. I was able to get into that group."

He joined the Army Reserves and was able to serve without being sent to Vietnam as a draftee soldier.

"Vietnam had a devastating effect on a lot of people," Mr. Murray said.

He had two neighbors who had been killed in the conflict.

Mr. Murray went to Atlanta looking for a job. He got into the training program for Trust Co. and was schooled in all aspects of banking. He wasn't fond of the back-room auditing. Working as a loan officer was much more fulfilling.

"When you're lending money, people have to come in and tell you their story. One thing I tried to always do and be is show empathy. Make people feel comfortable."

After his father's stroke in 1976, Mr. Murray thought he needed to come back to Augusta. A call came that the bank was looking for someone to head up a new branch near the Augusta Mall.

Mr. Murray was then assigned to the bank's Walton Way office. The manager at the time, Louis Bowman, had been there 10 years and died two weeks later.

"I was a young man, but I took over his role at that branch. Big responsibility," Mr. Murray said.

He held onto that responsibility until 1995. That's when he came downtown.

"He really started what we called then private banking," Mr. Thompson said. "He had a lot of physician clients being that close to the medical complex. It was a natural fit for him to start private banking."

SunTrust calls it wealth management now. Mr. Murray's clients are affluent professionals and business owners. His role is to provide whatever they need, from accounts to retirement plans to loans to estate planning.

Mr. Thompson said Mr. Murray's cell phone goes off a lot. "I kid him that he putted (on the golf course) better while talking on his cell phone than when he didn't."

Lamar Garrard, a close friend for the last decade - also a fellow memorabilia collector - said Mr. Murray helps a lot of people through networking.

"If they call that bank and need a referral, some kind of confirmation, good recommendation ... or just direction. He knows so many people, he's channeled that to good use," Mr. Garrard said. "He's passionate and sincere about helping other people. He makes every effort and goes a second mile if an opportunity arises to be of assistance."

THE WALK

If it is Christmas morning, you'll find Mr. Murray behind the wheel of a van picking up homeless people to bring them to St. James Methodist Church for a meal. Church members on Christmas and Easter locate everyone they can find to feed them breakfast.

Mr. Murray said the idea came from a parishioner who suggested no one should be alone on Christmas Day.

The church also houses a homeless family for a week at a time. "He will go to his church maybe two or three nights out of that week at the church with that homeless family," Mr. Garrard said.

Mr. Murray was once involved in the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce, was the treasurer for a Columbia County commissioner election campaign and was the former president of the Masters City Sertoma Club.

Things he no longer has time for because "he's given of himself for other endeavors," Mr. Garrard said.

Mr. Murray teaches Sunday School to adult men. He's the community coordinator for the Walk to Emmaus, a semi-annual Christian renewal weekend. And in the span of nine years, he took eight mission trips, two to Brazil and six to Haiti.

The spark came in 1996 when he embarked on his own Walk to Emmaus at Camp Daniel Marshall at Lake Thurmond. The experience begins with a walk to 15 stations where lay people and clergy discuss Christianity. He's now one of its organizers.

"He's a tremendous man of faith, uses that faith to help his fellow man. He will always be one of my heroes," Mr. Fishman said.

Mr. Murray's first mission trip was in 1997. "My first day in Brazil, I was sharing the gospel in a prison yard."

Brazil isn't a Third World country, but that kind of poverty can be seen in that nation's interior, he said.

Each trip had a different purpose. In one of his trips to Haiti, he spent time building a church in a town north of the capital. "Fifty miles in Haiti will take you four hours to get there."

Mr. Murray said he's not going to take a mission trip this year. He's investing his energy into supporting his 24-year-old son's efforts with Campus Outreach in Charleston.

Edward Murray said he played guitar in a local band. "But we weren't that great and things fell through. That's when I chose sociology."

Going into banking was "too much," he said.

The younger Murray said his father was a fun dad, always trying to crack jokes. "Trying," he said with a smirk.

Daughter Kerri is 31 years old and is a physical therapist in the Air Force, stationed at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

Edward Murray said he thinks his dad is focused on the history of Augusta for the purpose of learning family history. "The pursuit of learning about his mom and dad took him back even further."

That's why he's a member of the Beech Island Agricultural Society. His grandfather of five generations ago was its first chairman. And every meeting, there is a reading of the minutes of 100 years ago.

The club owns a signed copy of one of the Civil War's most famous documents, General Order No. 9, which was Lee's farewell address to his troops after the surrender. The club got national attention in 2003 when a PBS show revealed that the document they own was not the original. It was still unique, however, because it was a copy made in 1865 to be presented to one of Lee's faithful assistants.

It isn't the oldest historical document that Mr. Murray's seen.

THE STUFF GUY

In The Shrine, he lays open a book with a yellowed piece of paper.

"That is a document from the 1700s. That's George Walton's signature."

There were two signed items by the Augustan who signed the Declaration of Independence. Mr. Murray and a friend bought them at an auction and split the artifacts.

"I'm glad that things like this are able to be preserved," Mr. Murray said. "Three of the people who signed that document knew my grandfather seven generations back."

Mr. Murray traces his love of collecting to his father, who in World War II collected divisional insignia patches and put them together in an album. His parents never threw anything away, so he has his father's arrowhead collection, in addition to his own compilation of baseball cards from his youth.

Mr. Garrard said his friend has a great eye for collectibles. "I don't think it is monetary as much as something that might be meaningful."

Hanging on the wall is part of his collection of postcards that depict scenes of Augusta. Mr. Murray parted with some Masters badges to get them. There is a stack of old bank ads that he finds fascinating.

The prized possession, though, is a check in the frame underneath Ty Cobb's picture. The $3,897 check dated in 1946 has Mr. Cobb's signature.

So Mr. Murray, never having met Mr. Cobb, still has his "autograph."

"Milledge would have loved to have met him. He would have thanked him today for the hospitals and scholarships. Milledge and Ty have a common heart when it comes to that kind of stuff," Mr. Garrard said. "Baseball history is his passion, especially Augusta baseball history."

Mr. Murray is the resident expert on the famed baseball player's career. He can point you to where Ty Cobb lived on Williams Street near the campus of Augusta State. He lived in Augusta during his playing career.

Mr. Murray credits Cobb for bringing spring training to Augusta. The train stopped here, so that's as far south as the professionals traveled to get ready for the season. From 1890 to the 1930s "the greats of baseball were here," Mr. Murray said. "It blows my mind that you can't hardly find anything about Ty Cobb here in Augusta."

Mr. Murray over the years has sent six different packets of Augusta baseball history to the Baseball Hall of Fame's library in Cooperstown, N.Y. "I felt like it needed to be preserved."

After writing Jack Nicklaus to congratulate the famed golfer on winning his sixth Masters, the golfer wrote back on June 4, 1986. That letter hangs on Mr. Murray's wall: "I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciated your nice letter. Winning my sixth Masters was an unforgettable experience, and I'm deeply moved by the tremendous response I've received from golf fans around the world. Thanks again for writing."

Mr. Murray is a golfer himself. He's played the Augusta National three times, in 1965, 1985 and 2000.

"My goal that last time was to par No. 12."

He did.

His golfing nowadays is mostly in bank-sponsored events.

As rare as it is for people to play the Augusta National, he's got another rare moment in his golfing career. At age 18, he shot a hole-in-one on the 14th hole at Augusta Country Club.

What brings a bigger smile to his face, however, is the recollection of seeing the anchor to the Santa Maria during his second mission trip to Haiti.

Or the time he saw Hank Aaron hit 715.

"We were pulling for him. To see that event take place was special. I was jumping up and down in my seat. I was working for the bank in Atlanta at the time. I knew baseball history was taking place."

Reach Tim Rausch at (706) 823-3352 or timothy.rausch@augustachronicle.com.