James Thomas Murphy

James Thomas Murphy, "Jim", passed away peacefully at home on December 26, 2025. His wife, Sandi and daughters Jill and Kate were present. Jim was a faithful husband, loving father and grandfather, friend and mentor to many, and a follower of Jesus Christ. His presence will be greatly missed.
Jim was born on March 18,1944 in Kew Gardens, Queens New York. Later, his family moved to Newark, Delaware where he graduated from the University of Delaware, receiving a BA in History. Even as a young boy, Jim loved "all things cars". He loved sketching and designing cars. His model of a sports car won the Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild General Motors car design contest when he was just 14 years old. Jim had a dream to be a car designer, but this took a back seat once he entered the corporate world.
Jim's first job was at Ideal Toy Company as an advertising account executive. In 1972 he went to Washington, D.C. for business and had a blind date with Sandi Midgette, who worked with a friend of his from college. They had a whirlwind romance and five months later were married – a marriage that lasted 52 years! After Ideal Toys, Jim went on to have a successful marketing and consulting career for many healthcare companies. He started quite a few companies of his own as well. His entrepreneur's spirit and creative vision helped him immensely in his career. He was always coming up with innovative ideas. As a marketing executive at Humana, Inc., Jim and his team developed the idea of a free-standing urgent care center which they laughingly called "doc in the box". This was a new phenomenon in the hospital industry, and the idea took off. Look around today – you'll see these "doc in the boxes" everywhere!
Retiring from the corporate world gave Jim the opportunity to be the "car guy" he'd always wanted to be. He purchased Sports Utility Accessory Depot (later renamed Lefturn Enterprises) and sold truck accessories. For his birthday, his wife enrolled Jim in the Richard Petty's Driving School at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. He reached a top speed at 150. miles per hour and his racing "career" began. He raced with young up-starts in the Legends Series, the Allison Legacy Racing series, the Kimmel Stocks, the 24-Hour Endurance Races, and he started ODOR – "Old Dudes Out Racing" with his racing buddies. To round it all out, Jim financed and helped manage a Nascar truck team for 4 years with friend and driver Ricky Sanders. These 20-plus years of racing brought life-long friends and much joy to Jim.
While racing was on Jim's mind, his family was always in his heart. His wife and daughters were the loves of his life, and he was hugely successful at providing for them in every way. Jim was also generous to those who needed help. He offered a listening ear, gave advice to keep them on track and help with life skills, as well as offered financial assistance. And, lastly, Jim loved having a black labrador around the house. Ptarmigan Mountain "Tar", Jim and Sandi's first anniversary present, was the beginning of many black labs to join the Murphy family!
Jim is survived by his wife, Sandi Murphy; daughter, Jill Butcher and son-in-law Mike, and grandchildren Austin, Aidan, and Eli; daughter, Kate Johnson and son-in-law Roy, and grandchildren Denver, Logan, Jack and Lucy; brother, Michael Murphy and sister-in-law Diana of Ashland, Oregon; and sister, Tricia Schneider and brother-in-law Jim of Windsor Heights, Iowa.
A celebration of life will be held at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church on January 22, 2026 at 3:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Johnson Ferry Baptist Church (www.johnsonferry.org) or to Reasonable Faith (www.reasonablefaith.org).