- Date Of Birth: October 25, 1939
- Date Of Death: November 28, 2021
- State: Utah
After fighting a battle with declining health for several years, John Edward Murphy Jr. had a wonderful reunion with his wife, son, parents, and other loved ones that passed before him on November 28, 2021. His final hours were spent surrounded by loving family.
John was born in Logan, UT on October 25, 1939 to John Edward Murphy Sr. and Margaret Leatham Jenson Murphy. When he was only 11 months old, his father died of pneumonia while serving in the US Army during World War II, stationed in Hawaii. His mother remarried Edwin Christofferson a little over a year later, who took on the role as his father.
After graduating from South Cache High School in 1958, John started college at Utah State College where he attended for 2 years before serving in the Western States LDS Mission, which covered Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Nebraska, and parts of Texas and Utah. After returning home from his mission, he returned to Utah State before joining the Army Reserve in which he served 6 years. For part of his service, he was stationed in California.
After his service in the Army, he started working for the Federal Government with different organizations (DDO, IRS, and HAFB). He retired from HAFB after 30 years. He then went to work part time at Harmon’s Grocery Store for almost 20 years in the drive and load area. He enjoyed meeting people and helping them. He always had a huge smile on his face.
While working at DDO, he became friends with Lester Byington, who introduced him to his niece Connie Byington. They dated until John proposed to Connie on Valentine’s Day and were married for time and eternity in the Salt Lake Temple on May 6, 1966 which was the same day as his mother’s birthday.
John loved music and started performing at age 4 with his sister, accompanied by his mother. He had a beautiful voice and played piano, saxophone, and clarinet. John also taught piano lessons for several years. He was part of various musical groups throughout his life including: his high school bands, a Regional Chorus, the All Church Chorus, the Millennial Chorus, and the Men of Song. He had the opportunity to perform in the Tabernacle on Temple Square and for General Conference. He also performed as a Wiseman in a Live Nativity for 34 years. He was a member of the Men of Song for 25 years which also allowed him to enjoy one of his other passions: traveling. He enjoyed several tours including Northern California, Calgary and British Columbia, Canada, Jackson Hole and Kemmerer, WY, and St. George.
Aside from traveling with the musical groups he was a part of, he took many family vacations. The ones that were the most meaningful to him took him to Hawaii where his father was stationed when he passed away, and a Church History Tour.
John was a man of few words, but was always kind and service-oriented. He was a gentle giant and loved children. Some of his kids’ and grandkids’ favorite memories were wagon rides and listening to him read books to them. He volunteered at Hooper Elementary to help young kids learn to read. He always had a book he was reading and especially loved books about dogs and war stories throughout history.
Above all, John loved his family. He was devastated when he lost his only son, John Edward Murphy III (“Eddie”) in 1981. He is survived by his three daughters: Pamela Murphy, Cheryl (Nathan) Howard, Allison (Shay) Shaw; 6 grandkids: Christian Shaw, Trevor Shaw, Ashley (Bridger) Fawcett, ShayLynn Shaw, Madilyn Howard, and Kimmie Gallegos; 1 great-grandson: Eli Shaw; 3 sisters: Barbara Cheney, Linda Hodges, Jeanine Christoffersen; 1 sister-in-law: Elaine Christoffersen; and a very large extended family. He is preceded in death by his parents, brother William Christoffersen, son Eddie, wife Connie, brothers-in-law Jay Cheney, Kenneth Byington and Ken Becraft, and sister-in-law Linda Byington.
Although John’s health was declining for a few years leading up to his death, he was able to spend several months at SunRidge Assisted Living where he was truly happy. He was able to share his musical talents and socialize during the many activities they held for residents. A special thanks to the amazing staff there for helping him be the happiest he’d been since his wife passed away in 2018.
We’d also like to thank the Davis Hospital staff for their kindness and compassion. They helped ensure he was comfortable and didn’t suffer too much. We’re grateful we were able to be there with him.
