Charles D. Murphy Jr., 87

MILFORD - Charles D. Murphy Jr., of Milford, prominent local businessman and longtime director of the Delaware State Fair, passed away Saturday, Nov. 24, 2007, at home surrounded by his family. He was 87.

Mr. Murphy was born on Aug. 8, 1920, in Harrington, son of the late Charles D., Sr. and Elva (Bennett) Murphy.

His father, who died in 1928, was a renowned businessman and politician who, among his vast achievements, co-founded the Kent & Sussex Fair in Harrington.

He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy, serving his country during World War II, most of it aboard an escort aircraft carrier in the Pacific.

Mr. Murphy's ship narrowly survived the Great Typhoon suffered by dm. Halsey's Third Fleet in December 1944, a subject he was fond of recounting.

He entered St. Andrew's School in 1933 as a member of only the second class formed in that newly established boarding school.

At his graduation in 1938, Mr. Murphy was the class valedictorian and recipient of the St. Andrew's Cross for distinguished academic performance.

While attending Yale, from which he graduated in 1942 with a degree in political science, he was the a pitcher on the Yale baseball teams coached by "Smokey" Joe Wood, the former Boston Red Sox star.

That experience may have led in later years to complex and conflicted feelings, when Mr. Murphy, a long time Yankees follower, discovered that his two grandsons were ardent Red Sox fans.

After Yale, he received his MBA from Harvard business school and concurrently graduated from a U.S. Navy officer training program in Boston.

Educated at St. Andrew's, Yale and Harvard, Mr. Murphy might have pursed any number of career paths but chose to return to Milford after World War II service to enter the lumber business, thereby following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather.

That began a 60 year connection with the timberland and farmland of lower Delaware and the people associated with it, that, next to love of his family, were his greatest passion.

In the process, he came to know and befriend many.

Mr. Murphy founded, with Walter "Doc" Hoey, the M&H Lumber Co. in Milford.

For more than 20 years, this company cut and milled oak and pine lumber and piling from Sussex County timber.

It was an imported supplier of piling for the rebuilding of New York's piers and wharves following World War II.

Through this business, Mr. Murphy became deeply attached to the land and local communities of lower Delaware.

When the companies operations declined in the early 1960s, he became the director of Mosquito Control Division of the state of Delaware Highway Department.

This was an often frustrating and thankless responsibility, but it also afforded him the opportunity to broaden his friendships, particularly among the aviators with whom he contracted air spraying services.

In 1968, at the age of 48, Mr. Murphy obtained a land surveyor's license and started a new practice in that field.

He was later joined by his longtime partner, Bob Nash, and his sons John and Harry, who together have built the company, known as Charles D. Murphy Associates Inc., into the premier surveying and engineering firm in lower Delaware.

A man of seemingly boundless energy and determination, he never truly retired and remained involved in his land surveying business until this past summer, when cancer treatments forced him at last to reduce his activities.

Mr. Murphy was an avid and excellent bridge player.

Some of his closest friendships were formed at the bridge table, where his ability to dissect the play of a contract was astounding, if not insufferable.

Mr. Murphy was also a well read historian, particularly fascinated by the naval and military campaigns of World War II, which he greatly enjoyed discussing with his sons and grandsons, at times into the small hours of the morning.

Perhaps his greatest interest was in Yale football, which afforded him many opportunities over the years to mount unforgettable road trips to New Haven, Conn., with family, football fans or volunteers.

Mr. Murphy's extracurricular activities were numerous.

He had a brilliant mind and an encyclopedic memory for people, places, and family lineages and was a captivating storyteller.

While still a freshman at Yale, he was elected a director of the Kent & Sussex Fair, now the Delaware State Fair , continuing a family tradition of support for the fair that involved his father and his stepfather, J. Gordon Smith.

When the Harrington Raceway later formed a gaming enterprise on the fairgrounds, Mr. Murphy became a director of the very successful organization as well.

He served in both capacities until his passing.

For many years, Mr. Murphy was also a director of the Farmer's Bank of Delaware.

He was a member of the Christ Episcopal Church of Milford.

In addition to his parents, Mr. Murphy was preceded in death by his first wife, Jean Mulholland Murphy in 1972; a brother, James G. Smith; and a sister, Diane Leland.

He is survived by his wife of 33 years, Ruth Raughley Murphy; three sons and two daughters-in-law, Charles III and Kathleen Murphy of Sea Ranch, Calif., John H. and Carol Murphy of Milford and Harry Murphy of Milford; a daughter and son-in-law, Sharon and Jay Batley of Milford; a sister, Louise Taylor of Wilmington; two stepdaughters, Susan Gilstad and Anne Miller; nine grandchildren, Lauren Murphy, Kirsten Murphy, Charles Bailey, Patrick Bailey, Jennifer Penoza, Molly Chorman, Nathaniel Murphy, Allison Murphy and Alexander Murphy; three step-grandchildren, Raughley Koehler, Andrew Miller and David Miller; and two great-grandchildren, Myles Murphy and Timmy Koehler.

Services will be 1 p.m. today at Christ Episcopal Church, 200 N. Church St., Milford.

Burial will be in Hollywood Cemetery, Harrington.

Instead of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to Christ Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 191, Milford, DE 19963; or to the Turnell Cancer Center, 18947 John Williams Highway, Lewes, DE 19958.

Arrangements by Rogers Funeral Home, Milford.