Alan G. Murdoch

Alan Griffee Murdoch, 96, passed away on November 22, 2025. He was born on December 4, 1928, in Othello, Washington, the son of Maude Griffee Murdoch and William Langmuir Murdoch.

Alan grew up in Othello working in the wheat fields in the summer and playing in a dance band, The 5 Jives, with high school friends. He went to college at Washington State University where he worked at the radio station and graduated with a degree in Speech. Upon graduation in 1950, he enlisted in the United States Navy and was accepted into Flight School. For the next 27 years, he made it his business to be flung off ships at sea strapped in an airplane to defend the interests of the United States around the world. He was particularly proud to achieve 400 night landings from which both pilot and planes emerged with all parts intact and to serve an exchange tour with Her Majesty's Royal Navy in spite of the barrier of a common language.

During those years, he met a young Navy Nurse, Carol "Katie" McClung, in Jacksonville, Florida, and married her in 1965. A son came along the next year. After retirement from the Navy, he moved the family to Orlando, Florida, and worked first as the Office Manager of a construction management firm with a brother-in-law, Bill Matheny, and then as the Parish Administrator of All Saints Church, Winter Park, Florida.

He retired first to Lexington, Virginia, and finally moved to Louisville, Kentucky, to be near his grandchildren.

He and Katie were consummate hosts who enjoyed the company of friends and family at both formal and informal gatherings. He loved to tinker, particularly in wood, and his imagination and eye for detail left behind several pieces of furniture that adorn the house. He was also a dedicated chorister at the churches he and Katie attended.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother and sister-in-law, William "Scotty" and Ellen.

He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Katie, son and daughter-in-law, Guy and Janice, grandchildren, Helen Mariah and Judah, and several brothers- and sisters-in-law, as well as beloved nieces and nephews.

The funeral service will be on Saturday, December 6, 2025, 11 a.m. at St. Francis in the Fields, 6710 Wolf Pen Branch Road, Prospect, Kentucky 40059. Military honors and interment will be at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.

Expressions of sympathy may be made to Kosair Shriners Hospital.