Byron Murphey

Byron Freeze Murphey, Age 100, passed away Wednesday, December 12, 2018. He was born on August 12, 1918 in Great Falls, MT. He is preceded in death by his loving wife Doris Murphey; son, Byron Welker Murphey who died at age 8, and two sisters - Dorothy Ann Trosper and Patricia Gastineau. He is survived by his children, Kathleen Havill (Steven) and Patricia Dahlgren (Glenn); grandson, Douglas Rennie (Lisa); great-grandsons, Lachlan and Lane; and youngest sister, Mary Alice Hall, who resides in Redmond, Washington.

Born in 1918 at Great Falls, MT, of Gladys Freeze and Ben H. Murphey, Byron attended school in Missoula, MT where he graduated from the University of Montana in 1939 with majors in Physics and Mathematics.  Before and after World War II he attended the University of Minnesota, where he received the Ph.D. degree in 1948 with a major in Physics.  During World War II, from early 1941 to late 1945 he served at Naval Ordnance Laboratory in Washington, DC where he became an officer in the United States Reserve.

Dr. Murphey’s career was primarily with Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Livermore, California, where he was Director of Applied Research when he retired in 1983.  While with Sandia at Albuquerque he was involved in understanding the effects of nuclear weapons and participated in effects tests at the Nevada Test Site.  During the middle 1950s Dr. Murphey was physics section leader at the Central Research Laboratory of Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company.  He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and is listed in “American Men of Science”.

Byron and his wife Doris moved back to Albuquerque in 2003 and resided at La Vida Llena Lifecare Retirement Community.  Mr. Murphey was a member of St. Mark’s on the Mesa Episcopal Church where his ashes will be laid to rest.  A member of Sigma Chi Fraternity, Byron was a Life Loyal Sig.  His avocation has for many years been travel photography and genealogy.  A lifelong learner and reader, Mr. Murphey had just started reading “The Iliad” when he passed.  He will be greatly missed by his daughters, their spouses and his grandson Douglas and his family.