Peter John "Pete" Murphy

Peter John Murphy, the adventurer, motorcyclist, engineer, husband, and father, has died. Pete was born in 1945 in Lake Placid, New York, in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains. His father was an underground iron miner and his mother raised Pete and his four sisters. Pete was an altar boy and good student, and thrived hunting, fishing, and camping in the Adirondacks.

Pete excelled in school and received a scholarship to attend a Catholic boarding school, where he learned academics, Latin, and boxing from the Brothers of Christian Instruction. Pete found a love of motorcycles in high school and raced a Bultaco dirt tracks.

After high school, he attended the University of Buffalo and studied engineering. He then got a job designing roads and married his high school sweetheart, Judy. That chapter of Pete's life was cut short when Judy died shortly thereafter. Pete left work and embarked on a several-month motorcycle trip wandering the country, during which he was arrested only once due to a misunderstanding at a crawfish boil in southern Louisiana.

Pete returned to New York and met his second wife Carolyn, who shared his love of motorcycles and adventures. They married in 1980 and their son, Mike, was born in 1981. Now a family man, Pete moved to Stamford, Connecticut to take a corporate job, where he wore a jacket and tie to work, but ties and starched collars never fully suited Pete. In 1988, his company sent him on a trip to Quinnesec, Michigan, where construction on a new paper machine at the pulp mill was underway. On that trip, Pete climbed to the top of the Pine Mountain ski jump, had a look around, and knew that could be his forever home. The family moved to nearby Kingsford and Pete became the manager of the engineering department at the Quinnesec mill. He enjoyed the mill and regularly arrived at work early to survey its mechanical processes to prepare for his day.

Pete continued adventuring and the family motorcycle toured all of the lower 48 states as well as much of Canada and northern Mexico. In 2001 Pete was snowmobiling to Hudson Bay, Canada when he was hit by a truck. He was helicoptered to Toronto and survived. The accident left him with a limp and a breathing hole in his neck, but he grew a long beard to cover it. Realizing then that life is short, he retired from the mill and kept traveling, including motorcycling throughout Europe and China. He also took up competitive pistol shooting and became a concealed carry instructor. He spent several winters in Arizona where he explored the Superstition Mountains and surrounding deserts by UTV with a group of fellow explorers.

Time catches us all, even a man as vibrant as Pete, and by the early 2020s Pete slowed down, sold his motorcycles, and spent time reading science fiction novels and visiting his grandchildren. The effects of his 2001 accident contributed to health problems and he died of natural causes on August 23, 2025. He was predeceased by his father, John, his mother Daisy, his first wife, Judy, his four adult sisters Susan, Peg, Cathy, and Angela, and two other siblings who died at childbirth. He is survived by his wife Carolyn, son Mike (Kelsey), granddaughters Alexandra and Aurora, and niece Cindy. He is further survived by his stepchildren Ruth Schroeder and Andy (Monica) Bell, and Andy and Ruth's children Kaylee and Andrea, and their granddaughters Riley and Cheyenne.

The family will have a gathering at Pete's home on Sunday, August 31 at 1:00 p.m. Please consider making a donation to Pete's favorite charity, Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Friend may leave condolences and tributes to Pete's family online at www.jacobsfuneralhomes.com