Joseph Murdock

Joseph LaNae Murdock, age 87, passed away peacefully at the CLC Hospice at the Veterans hospital in Boise, Idaho on November 18th, 2019. Joe was born on January 11th ,1932, to his parents Ora and Grant Murdock, in Cedar City, Utah and was the second oldest of six. His family later moved to Montpelier, Idaho where he graduated high school in 1949. At the age of 17, Joe joined the U.S. Navy. After serving and being honorably discharged he attended Idaho State College in Diesel mechanics. He met his wife, Maralyn Turner while attending school. They were married June 6th, 1957. He spent his career as a heavy-duty Diesel mechanic and welder and took great pride in his work that took him to Hells Canyon, Dworshak, Grand Coulee and the Alaska pipeline. He was a proud 50-year and 60-year member of Locals 302 and 370 of the Operating Engineers. Following the completion of Dworshak dam, Joe and Maralyn returned to Boise with their 3 children. Their Boise home, which always had an open-door policy, was a landing place and “crash pad” for many friends, family and travelers near and far. His days following retirement were spent helping his son-in-law at Frontier Tire, ‘foreman’ for his kids’ home constructions, neighborhood water master, newspaper route on his 3-wheel bicycle, hosting 15 foreign exchange students, taking his children and grandchildren camping and fishing, traveling internationally, baking bread, flipping his famous sourdough pancakes and driving Maralyn crazy. In the years following Maralyn’s passing in 2014, Joe moved to Homedale, Idaho where he was a regular charmer at the Homedale Senior Center and participated in the Wilder VFW. His time was filled with reminiscing, throwing candy in the local parades and driving his electric chair into grocery store displays. Joe is survived by his children Kevin (Cheryl) Murdock, Kirk (Annette) Murdock and Kandis (Todd) Romans as well as 11 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren. His family would like to give a special thanks to Krystal Smith, his dedicated caregiver for the time he was in Homedale and to the staff at the VA hospice for their exceptional care. The service will be at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery on Monday November 25th, 2019 at 2 p.m. with a potluck reception to follow at Joe’s Boise house until 5pm. In lieu of flowers, monetary donations can be made physically at the service or by mail. For mailing address, please email joemurdockmemorial@gmail.com. The proceeds will go towards playground and recreation equipment for local parks, as Joe loved children.