OXFORD — Joseph Bledsoe Murphey, 82, aka Papa Smurf and Father Murphey, passed away in his sleep on Sunday, Aug. 28, at his home in Oxford.
Mr. Murphey was born to Eva Bledsoe Murphey and Smith Murphey on October 29, 1939 in Sumner. He was an Eagle Scout and was educated at the Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tenn., and in 1962 received his bachelor’s degree in geology from Washington & Lee University. He earned a master’s from the University of Mississippi in 1965, where he met his best friend and love of his life, Becky. They married on June 27, 1965 and moved to Lompoc, Calif., where he worked for the USDA Agricultural Research Service. After a short tenure in Tucson, Ariz., he came home to Mississippi, where he worked at the Soil Sedimentation Laboratory in Oxford as a geologist until his retirement in 1997.
Joe will be remembered by loved ones and friends as a jokester who knew how to brighten a day by making those around him laugh. As a perennial Eagle Scout, Joe was known to lend a hand, quick to help with family members needed assistance. He built a wheelchair ramp for his mother when she was ill, and a crafted a large back porch for his mother-in-law to enjoy her afternoons. He also used his Scouting skills to teach his children, (biological, fraternal and honorary) many useful skills, ranging from replacing doorknobs, identifying native flora and fauna, checking the oil in your car, baiting a hook, how to dance the Twist, and instructing them in the proper way to eat a crawfish.
An avid outdoorsman and historian, he enjoyed duck hunting and had an impressive collection of trophies. He was a member of the Oxford and Lafayette County Historical Society, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the Oxford Rotary Club, the O.D. Smith #33 Masonic Lodge, and the Red Cross of Constantine. He was a member of Kappa Sigma, serving as the alumni advisor for the Delta Xi chapter and was awarded their national “H.E Peery Alumni Advisor of the Year” award in 1995. He was a member of First Presbyterian Church of Oxford.
Mr. Murphey is survived by his wife of 57 years, Rebecca “Becky” Rogers Murphey, of Oxford; his two daughters, Missy Murphey of Orlando, Fla. and Beth (Drew) Downey of Starkville; and a brother, Smith Murphey IV of Sumner.
Services will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the College Hill Presbyterian Church Building Fund, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Ducks Unlimited, or the National Wildlife Federation.
