John A. Murphy

John Alfred Murphy, 87 of Gettysburg, PA died Thursday, May 20, 2021 at his home in Gettysburg, PA.   Born June 10, 1933 in Rochester, NY, the son of the late Ralph F. Murphy Sr. and Annabelle (Mullen) Murphy. He was married to Joan Mans Murphy of Rochester, NY for 63 years.

John was a 1951 graduate of Brighton High School in Rochester. He received his B.S. in Business from the University of Notre Dame in 1955 and an M.S. in Russian from Georgetown University in 1972.

John Murphy is a retired U.S. Navy Commander (1957 to 1977). He was a member of the Naval Security Group and served aboard destroyers and aircraft carriers in the Atlantic, Pacific and Mediterranean. He was Operations Officer at a Black Sea Warning Site in Istanbul, Turkey and a staff officer at the Atlantic Command Headquarters, Norfolk, VA. during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. He served two tours in the Vietnam Combat Zone - 1964 (USS Jamestown) and 1968 (USS Constellation & Kitty Hawk).  His military awards include the Vietnam Medal of Honor First Class; Vietnam Service with 6 Oak Clusters; Navy Commendation medals for the Cuban Missile Crisis and Project Bullseye. He retired from the Navy as a Commander in 1978.

From 1980 to 1990 John was an executive at Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. and the Executive Director of its Russian Studies Center in Bethesda,Md.

Mr. Murphy relocated to Gettysburg in 1990 to teach Russian at Gettysburg College. He later served on the Gettysburg Borough Council (1991- 2007); was Chairman of the USS Gettysburg Commissioning Committee; 1st Chairman of the Gettysburg National Military Park, Federal Advisory Commission; Vice Chairman of Main Street Gettysburg; President, of the Gettysburg Rotary Club (1999-2000); Trustee of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Society and was the Founding President of the Notre Dame Club of Gettysburg.

In addition to his beloved wife Joan, he is survived by his children: Katherine Morris of Frederick, MD, Kerry Skrzyniarz of Bethesda, MD and Patrick Murphy of Washington, DC. He was predeceased by his son Ralph F. Murphy III and his brother, Admiral Ralph F. Murphy.

A private interment will be held at Evergreen Cemetery, Gettysburg.

Condolences may be shared at the Kenworthy Funeral Home website: www.kenworthyfh.com