It is with a heavy heart that I share that Niklas Murray, a passionate FIRST alumni and Citrus Circuits coach, passed away this past weekend.
I’ve personally known Nik since he was a bright young student on FRC Team 701, and it has been a true honor coaching with him on Team 1678 these past few years. Despite his recent health struggles, Nik brought positive energy and wise mentorship to every team meeting, leaving a lasting legacy on Citrus Circuits. We will miss him dearly.
Our team’s thoughts and prayers are with Nik’s family at this time. If you knew Nik and would be interested in attending his Celebration of Life, please DM me and I can forward you the details. In lieu of donations, the family is setting up a scholarship fund in Nik’s honor, which I hope to share details about in this thread at a later time.
Rest In Peace, Nik.
Below is a photo I took of Nik from last fall when he volunteered as Head Ref at one of our Davis Youth Robotics tournaments, he truly was generous to his core:
Nik was a kind, funny, smart guy and I learned so much from him in the short time I got to know him. Even when his health problems were truly awful, he was still smiling and affable. Citrus is a better team, and I’m a better coach thanks to Nik. It’s hard to process that he’s gone, and I’m going to miss him. We’re all going to miss him.
Nik was a core member in our fantasy first team for years and was always a great person to be around. Late calls pouring thru different options of who we were going to select for various regions of FIRST were amazing. His enthusiasm for FIRST was immense and he was always down to talk robots. Living half way across the continent I was lucky to meet him in person for the first time this past 2023 champs and seeing him so engaged and excited to be participating in FIRST with 1678 was infectious. He always had a great sense of humor despite his health issues and never let that get him down. Just a few days ago was talking to him about how excited he was for his next season with Citrus…
Still processing this loss, but will miss him dearly.
I first got to know Nik in 10th grade, when we were both in high school. We somehow connected via Discord, and then Snapchat. We grew apart towards the time we graduated high school, but I will always remember him as a core friend for me during those formative years. This came as a shock to me since we haven’t been close these past few years. He’s always been an integral part in the wider “FRC Community” for me, and I will miss him dearly.
I had the privilege of meeting Nik towards the end of high school, and I can honestly say I’ve never met a kinder and funnier person. All I can add is that I wish our last conversation at worlds was a little bit longer. I’ll miss you bro🖤
There are some folks you are lucky to know, and even luckier to consider a friend. Nik was one of those people.
I consider myself extraordinarily lucky to have been friends with Nik. We first met eight years ago when we were both students competing with and against each other in Northern California. In high school Nik and I became close. We spent dozens and dozens of hours on Skype and etc. talking life and robots, and it was always such a joy to spend this time with him. Even more so to hang out at events together. I can only echo everyone else’s commentary of his immense enthusiasm and positive attitude, as well as an absurdly funny sense of humor.
College came, and we talked less frequently, but still routinely connected with one another. I know how excited he was to spend time as a mentor on 1684, 148, and 1678, and all these teams are better for having Nik involved. I know how incredibly happy he was on Citrus, and remember getting a photo sent of his new shoes with lime green highlights, a tradition of his when he started with a new team.
I just saw Nik in September at Chezy Champs. I was zoned in and moving quickly, and we said 'sup, exchanged a fist bump, and that was that. So wish I had taken the time to stop and chat now. Life moves quickly and can go in any direction at any moment. Plan accordingly.
Nik’s passion for flying, flight instruction, and restoration of WWII era airplanes was infectious. The lessons he learned and gave carried over to our little world of FRC robots.
Failures in airplanes are generally not well received and reliability is paramount. The knowledge Nik passed to Citrus and me about keeping airplanes reliable directly translated to keeping bots reliable. Thank you Nik for sharing so much wisdom. You will be missed my friend.
FRC Team 1501 sends its condolences to Nik’s family, friends and team mates.
He sounds like a great person and will be missed by all that knew him.
Rest in Peace.
This is tragic news to hear, he will be missed dearly.
During the 2019 build season, Nik and I were freshman roommates in our second semester at Kettering, and we both helped mentor 1684 The Chimeras and 5460 Strike Zone. Nik had a car and I did not, so we carpooled to Lapeer for robotics meetings, and he was even generous enough to let me borrow his car when it was just Strike Zone meeting.
Nik (aka NikM701) was a retired member of the FRC Discord mod team and an active member for many years. A lot of the older members remember his knowledgeable and positive interactions on the server. Nik helped make the server a better place in its early years. We were lucky to have him on our team.
The mod team extends our sincere condolences to Nik’s friends and loved ones.
Condolences from myself & 2481. I did not know Nik personally, but it is clear he positively impacted many people through his efforts, and I hope that those who were close to him are doing OK.
I am sorry to hear of Nik’s passing. Nik was invaluable to 461 at champs this past year, in the few hours we got to work with Nik he shared many valuable insights and teachings that have become part of our strategy for the upcoming year. FIRST has lost a great mentor and individual, please accept my deepest condolences for this loss.
I never knew Niklas personally, but it’s clear from the posts here that he was a beloved mentor and friend to many different people. It is with the heaviest of hearts that we all mourn the loss of this gifted and promising young man. He was a shining example of everything that is great about the FIRST community - his passion, his intellect, and his kindness. Nik touched so many lives, and I know that his memory will forever live on through his impact on those that were lucky enough to know him.
“Greatness lies, not in being strong, but in the right using of strength; and strength is not used rightly when it serves only to carry a man above his fellows for his own solitary glory. He is the greatest whose strength carries up the most hearts by the attraction of his own.”
Very sad to hear about Nik’s passing. Nik was a FUN correspondent for a while when he was in Texas and always brought great energy and passion to his on-screen presence. RIP Nik and thank you for all of your contributions to the FIRST community.
Nik was always a goober. He and I were interns at the same company and lived together in the housing they provided. We and the other interns would play Werewolf together. If you know the game then you know there’s a character called the Tanner that causes a lot of chaos. Every time we played, he would look you dead in the eyes and say “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m the Tanner”. Then he’d look proud of himself and give the largest and most annoying grin imaginable. Every single game was like this, and the messed-up part was that he genuinely was the Tanner half the time. He won more games than I can count doing this.
I’m gonna miss him. He always talked about wanting to be a pilot, so I’m glad he got to live that dream in the short time he had.
I’ve debated posting about this, since I was not close to Nik at all, nor have I had extensive conversation with him. However, his passing has brought great sadness for everyone, and I hope sharing some memories of him can ease what we’re all feeling.
We were both students in FIRST at the same time and spent a lot of time within the unofficial Discord from 2018-20. While we did not talk in the same threads and channels, everyone knew him as an amazing resource for all things technical. And more than that, his personality was infectious, talking about his love for piloting and robots with so much passion.
We didn’t talk much, but the conversations I’ve shared with him were always bright, informative, and just a joy. Seeing everyone’s amazing memories of him is awesome.
Me, my teams (FRC 3461/FTC 16008), and the greater community sends our condolences to Nik’s friends and family (both robotics and not robotics related). I hope he rests in peace knowing his contributions to the community have meant so much to everyone.
Losing a member of your team’s family is always devastating. It sounds like Nik was a truly bright light to everyone he met. The MidKnight family is holding Nik, his loved ones, and Nik’s team communities in our hearts.
I know I’m bumping a few weeks old thread, but I just felt compelled to say something.
I never met Nik in person, but I did spend hours talking to him on F4 (when it was a Slack and attempt at a YouTube channel) as well as collaborating with him on the F4 CADathon.
I still have the Robovikes shirt we traded over mail, and part of me wonders if there’s a 2869 shirt somewhere in California right now.
Nik was a truly passionate person about a lot of things, most memorably flying and robotics. This was really sad news to stumble into as he’s gone way too soon.
It was a shock to just now learn about the passing of my former student Nik Murray. I am not directly involved much anymore with the robotics community, but thought I’d take a moment to share and recognize Nik’s contributions. When he started on team 701 as a freshman doing VexEDR, he was hooked. He loved everything about design and strategy of the robots which carried on to FRC later that year and through his senior year. He was a major contributor to the design, drive team, and strategy of our FRC robots from 2015-2018. His contributions to the first community continued into the years that followed by mentoring other teams along with the FRC community on Discord and CD. Niklas has touched the lives of many of us. I consider myself fortunate to see him grow over the years and am sad that his life come to an early end. He put a lot of time and energy into his passions like FRC and Aviation. Life is short, follow your passions… A lesson Nik has taught me.
