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Submitted: 10/26/16 • Approved: 10/26/16 • Last Updated: 10/29/16 • R1158975-G1158973-S3
Guy Winifred
Feb 10, 1925 - May 10, 1999
Dolores Jean
Dec 28, 1930 - Mar 30, 2008
Married May 18, 1951
*Obituary
Guy W. Murphy, 74, a leading architect of the Conway area's growth and development for nearly a half century, died Monday (May 10, 1999) at his home.
Murphy headed the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce for more than 40 years, the longest tenure of any Arkansas chamber of commerce manager. His keen interest in local history was manifested in the forming of the Faulkner County Historical Society and the building of the Cadron Blockhouse.
Murphy had no Conway ties when he took a job with the Chamber of Commerce in July 1952. He had been with the Walnut Ridge Chamber of Commerce, his first job after graduating from the University of Arkansas with a business degree in public administration in 1950, the first year the degree was offered.
He served as manager of the Conway chamber for 40 years until his retirement in 1992, when the chamber building was named for him. He also received the chamber's Distinguished Service Award in 1984.
During that same time, Murphy served as secretary-treasurer of the Conway Development Corp., a position he held from its inception in the 1950s until he stepped down on Jan. 30 this year.
Bertha Bell worked with Murphy on the Faulkner County Historical Society and her husband, Cecil, served with Murphy on the CDC board for a number of years.
"Guy was one of the finest persons I've ever known. Everybody loved him," Mrs. Bell said. "He was a great one to work with on the historical society and any other project."
"We have really suffered a loss. ... Guy loved his work, loved his family and he loved doing for others."
Bell said, "I worked with Guy on the CDC board for 27 years. Guy was a great person. He was honest, dependable, hard working and always helping others. This community has lost a valuable friend. Most of the industry in Conway is a result of Guy Murphy's groundwork."
B. J. Daugherty, who worked with Murphy on the CDC and chamber, considered him a "very close friend." He said the Murphys were "outstanding parents" and their children "are examples of what they instilled in them."
"Guy Murphy was one of those interesting men because he was interested in so many things, in particular history. He was very interested in the development of Conway and Faulkner County because of his long tenure with the chamber and the CDC."
Daugherty said Murphy could be trusted with a secret and he "never heard Guy Murphy say an unkind word about anyone.
"He was one of the finest men I've ever been associated with," he said. "He was just an outstanding person."
Bill Johnson, who has known Murphy since 1960 and also worked with him through the chamber, described him as "one of the giants of the 20th century in Faulkner County."
Johnson said Murphy worked diligently to ensure that the chamber's views were known in Washington. "No one ever did so much with so little money at the chamber," Johnson said.
Murphy had a vast knowledge of Conway and Faulkner County as well as geology and archeology, according to Johnson, and conducted well-documented research in a scholarly fashion. He said Murphy was instrumental in seeing that a number of historical markers were placed in significant locations through the county, including the Springfield-Des Arc Bridge.
Johnson recalled on a boat trip sponsored by the Corps of Engineers that Murphy could name each mountain that was passed and explain its origin. On another occasion during the construction of the first Cadron Settlement Blockhouse, Murphy found some old buttons he documented through the Library of Congress had come off of the uniforms of French soldiers during the site's early history. "His historical contribution was enormous."
Murphy worked "in the trenches" and was a guiding figure in the development of the Conway Industrial Park, according to Johnson.
Bill Yates, president of the chamber in 1990, said Murphy was the person who first got him involved in chamber activities in the early 1980s and later the two worked long hours together to gain national accreditation for the chamber and change the name to Conway Area Chamber of Commerce.
"I dearly loved Guy," Yates said. "He was such a friend and mentor."
From all of those hours spent together, Yates' most vivid memories center around Murphy's seemingly endless amount of knowledge about Conway.
"He was a walking encyclopedia on the history of Conway," Yates said. "He was writing a book about Conway and I remember one time in the (chamber) conference room he had it laid out in the chairs by chapters. Those photos were treasures."
Family members said Murphy had a story to go with each photo he was planning to put in the book.
Both Yates and Bob Meriwether commented on Murphy's extensive knowledge, Meriwether adding that it was even more interesting because Murphy was not a Faulkner Countynative.
Murphy was born Feb. 10, 1925, in Ola (Yell County), the youngest son of James Lee "Pat" and Violet Elnora Marks Murphy. After graduating from Ola High School, he served with the Army Air Forces in World War II.
Like thousands of his generation, the military service and its resulting "GI Bill" benefits guided him into college.
When Murphy arrived in Conway at age 28, he found a small city of 8,600 population. There was a bus factory, a small school furniture factory and a brand-new fishing lake.
His contributions often took form through his out-of-the-limelight work. He had no problem letting others take credit for ideas he had launched.
"He was one of the strongest supporters," said Meriwether, who worked with Murphy in the Faulkner County Historical Society. "He didn't just stand around and let others do the work. He was willing to man the booth at the county fair and do all the little things."
Murphy also, however, was one of the primary people in county history to push for projects of historical significance. "Anything of any historical value, he became aware of it and tried to restore it," Meriwether said.
Some of the projects in which Murphy had a vital role:
* The building of Beaverfork Lake in the 1950s as an auxiliary water supply for Conway.
* The founding of the Faulkner County Historical Society in 1959.
* The task force to create the Faulkner County Museum.
* Helped organize local efforts for the county centennial, the Arkansas sesquicentennial and the U.S. bicentennial.
* The creation of the Conway Industrial Development Corporation and Conway's Industrial Park.
* Moving and rebuilding the pioneer log cabin on the county courthouse grounds.
* Establishing Cadron Settlement Park.
* Building of the Cadron Blockhouse.
* Preserving the Woolly log cabin and the building of Woolly Hollow State Park.
* Launching Toad Suck Daze.
* Beginning citywide garbage service in Conway.
* Creating the Conway Planning Commission.
* Starting the Faulkner County United Fund.
* Landing the Human Development Center.
* Landing Arkansas Educational Television Network.
* Landing the Arkansas Office of Emergency Services.
He had a hand in a number of other historic issues, not all of them successful. He helped preserve the unique Springfield-Des Arc bridge over Cadron Creek, a structure of a style called the bow string arch. But he lost a battle in the 1970s to preserve Conway's downtown railroad station.
Meriwether also said Murphy's work on "Faulkner County, It's Land and People" was so extensive, the book was dedicated to him. Murphy served as both president of the historical society and editor of its journal.
Mayor Tab Townsell described Guy Murphy as a family friend from his childhood. "He and Mrs. Murphy were parents who invested in the lives of their children. That can be seen in the lives and community service of his children."
"My grandfather worked with one of Guy's older brothers, Woodrow, at a service station in Ola and remembers Guy coming home from college in Fayetteville and working summers. My grandfather has always said Guy was one of the brightest young men to come around that country.
"Only afterward, after growing up and taking an interest in city affairs did I learn that the same man who joined our conversations about politics, religion or Razorback sports or peered over our shoulders while we played cards, was also profoundly influencing our city through the chamber or the Conway Development Corporation. He was a model of a career man and a family man. His friends and his city miss him today. I do!"
Murphy was also a graduate of the Northwestern University Chamber of Commerce Institute in Evanston, Ill., and the University of Oklahoma Industrial Development Institute. He was past president of the Conway Rotary Club and attended First United Methodist Church. He was also a member of the American Industrial Developers and the Southern Industrial Developers.
Survivors are his wife of 48 years, Dolores Jean Parks Murphy; four sons, Guy W. Murphy, Michael L. Murphy, James R. Murphy and Patrick R. Murphy, all of Conway; a daughter, Maureen Murphy Threet of Fayetteville; and nine grandchildren.
The family will be at the home of Guy W. Murphy, 2025 Springwood Dr.
Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Thursday at First United Methodist Church.
Contributed on 10/26/16 by hawkinsdonna
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Record #: 1158975