John A. Murdy III, Businessman and Rancher, Dies at 62 After a Stroke
John A. Murdy III, a businessman and rancher, died Thursday after a stroke. He was 62.
The son of California state Sen. John A. Murdy Jr. who died in May, Murdy was a lifelong Republican and an active member of the Lincoln Club of Orange County. An avid outdoorsman, he was appointed by Gov. George Deukmejian to the state Fish and Game Commission in 1985.
Murdy was also a member of the Board of Trustees of Whittier College, his alma mater, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Farmers Insurance Group.
In addition, Murdy served as president of Freeway Industrial Park Inc., was a director of Commercial Center Bank and the Murdy Foundation, which made substantial contributions to the construction of the Orange County Performing Arts Center.
A second generation Californian, Murdy was born in Santa Ana and was graduated from Huntington Beach High School in 1946.
He is survived by his wife, Gerry; three daughters, Ann Murdy of Los Angeles, Susan Murdy of Newport Beach and Marie Murdy of Denver, Colo.; and his sister, Maxine Murdy Trotter of Tustin.
Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Hoag Hospital Cancer Center or the St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church Organ Fund.
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