John Murphy

John Harold Murphy died on Aug. 30, at Columbine Health and Rehab Centre at the age of 87. He was born on a farm near Tyrone, Okla., Nov. 25, 1920, the son of pioneer settlers from Kentucky who homesteaded in No Man's Land, the panhandle of Oklahoma, in 1904. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1943. He married Claudene Whitaker the same year. John served as an artillery officer in the U.S. Army European theater in World War II. He remained in the active reserves and retired from the Army Reserves with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. John and Claudene lived in Ponca City, Okla., from 1951 to 1974. He worked for Conoco Oil Company from 1957 to 1974. In 1974, they moved to Denver where John worked for Stearns-Rogers until his retirement in 1983. They then moved to their property at Crystal Lakes where they enjoyed their home, friends, and many Red Feather Lakes and Crystal Lakes activities. John served on the Crystal Lakes fishing board and the volunteer fire department. In 1994, they added a second residence in Fort Collins at Park Lane Towers. John was preceded in death by Claudene in 2006. He is survived by his son, Brad, of Fayetteville, Ark.; three grandchildren, Caitlin, Kendal, and Collin, of the same address; a sister, Nicy, of Guymon, Okla.; a sister-in-law, Thelma Murphy, of Amarillo, Texas; numerous nieces and nephews and their families; a sister-in-law, Rosemary Whitaker, of Fort Collins; and a brother- and sister-in-law, Gerald and Liz Whitaker, of Tucson, Ariz. His ashes will be interred at the Swanson Memorial Garden at Chapel in the Pines, Red Feather Lakes. No services will be held at this time. The family requests that donations in his memory be made to Hospice of Larimer County.