A memorial service for Ann Arbor police officer and former University of Michigan football player Vada Murray will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at Cliff Keen Arena, 616 E. Hoover St., on the U-M campus.

Murray, 43, died last Wednesday following a battle with lung cancer. He had never smoked.

Visitation will be at Nie Funeral Home, 3767 W. Liberty St., in Scio Township on Tuesday from 2 to 8 p.m. and Wednesday from 4 to 8 p.m.

A private burial to be attended by family and police officers will follow the service Thursday.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Bank of Ann Arbor, 125 S. Fifth Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 on behalf of Vada Murray. Proceeds will be used to make a donation to research into cancer in nonsmokers.

Murray, 43, enjoyed a 20-year career as an Ann Arbor policeman after playing as a free safety for the Wolverines. He was known for mental toughness on and off the field. "They picked the wrong person to mess with," Murray told an Ann Arbor News reporter in 2008, the year he was diagnosed with cancer. "There's no way in hell I'm going to let this cancer get to me."

• Read the Vada Murray obituary.