Marty Murdock

After Wasatch I returned home to Kensington, Maryland, where our family had moved in 1961. My first year of college was commuting to George Washington University in D.C., studying electrical engineering, as planned. It's a long story, but across the course of that year I discovered I was on the wrong path for me and turned toward pastoral ministry. That summer our college group at the church assisted in a neighborhood youth program at Vermont Avenue Baptist Church. At the end of August a couple of us were part of the March on Washington, where Martin Luther King made his "I have a dream..." speech. It was thrilling to be there. I transferred to Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, where I finished my BA in Psychology. I then headed west to do my Master of Divinity at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA. That was a fascinating place to be in the late 60's. I was engaged for a year, but we broke it off. I later met my wife, Cheryl, at Juvenile Hall--where we both were working. She's a Registered Nurse. We married in June of 1970. I wasn't ready to settle into the demands of ministry yet, so we spent September 1970 through February 1971 in Europe, studying German during two of those months at a Goethe Institute in Murnau, in Bavaria. I had studied French in college. (Still haven't gotten around to Spanish, but that's on my bucket list.) I was appointed to the Fall River Mills church in northeast California in 1971. Our daughter Joy was born there in 1974. We then moved to Santa Cruz in 1977, where our son Paul was born. On to Santa Rosa in 1982, where we went through a church fire and rebuilding. We were also guardians for our niece, Stacey, for the last few of her teen years during this time. In 1989 we moved to Tulare, where both of the kids finished high school. Then 1996 to Bakersfield and 2004 to Redding. I retired at the end of June 2010, old enough for Medicare and willing to stop. Our first grandchild, Noah Kearns, was born 3 weeks later--hooray! We have been doing a good bit of travel while we still have good health and I also continue to be involved in some community agencies. I got to spend most of December in East Africa (and had lunch with George Mathu twice) on a Habitat for Humanity project. I continue to play tennis and do some flying and hiking. I have been taking training in spiritual direction and have a few directees with whom I meet monthly. I'm trying to get real about my book collection and how many of those that are unread will likely remain so, unless I live to be 150. I still play tuba in an ensemble and some guitar with the grand children. Cheryl and I are delighted with the privilege of retirement and the possibilities that it offers. It's amazing for a check to come without going off to work every day...God is good.

We moved to Santa Rosa in April, mainly to be closer to the grandchildren. We are also able to get on Kaiser here and save hundreds of dollars a month on health insurance. It's been a busy time getting the house refurbished so we can refinance, but we got it done in August. The new kitchen is lovely. You all come visit and we'll find some local wineries together.

I thank you all for being my extended family at Wasatch and in the years since. You helped shape who I am and I am grateful.

I do remember the time John Patton and I put a toilet in the chemical closet in the physics and chemistry classroom. Miss Barber didn't think it was as funny as we did.

Also, who put Miss Frink's Volkswagen on the Sage porch? Was that folks from the class of 1961?

Maynard and I didn't get as fancy with a door switch for the radio, like Jack and Cliff did, but we enjoyed "Patterns in Music" on KNBR on the transistor radio during study hours and after. A blanket over the window and rug against the bottom of the door usually kept us from being discovered.

Did anyone else wear out their shoes in marching band besides me? I used to put a piece of composition roofing inside the shoe to cover the hole. Lots cheaper than buying new shoes...

That clothes line by Lincoln was a problem. Not only Jack, but Bill Buse' went down there after catching it under the chin while running...

Today, Jan 26,2015, we are in Bangkok, where we will shortly have lunch with Burin Kantabutra. Thank you MaryAnn, for this wonderful website! Burin sends his greetings to you all and welcomes more visits from Wasatch classmates in Thailand. Apparently Steve Poulson and family were there before me, and Claire Poulson on another occasion.

Now we have returned from a couple weeks on the Baltic and are helping our daughter and family move across California to where they can buy a house...